
Class F \ 2.^ 

Book ■ SiS2 4 




'ULFIT OF UNITED PKFISBVTERIAN CHURCH. SALEM. N. V 

Decorated for the Anniversary Service. 

Rev. William A. Mackenzie, Pastor. 



Strc)i<riJi and beauty are in His Sanctuary .'' 



ANNIVERSARY 
SOUVENIR 



TO KEEP IN MEMORY THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 

TWENTY-FIFTH AND TWENTY-SEVENTH OCTOBER 

MDCCCXCVI 




NEW YORK 

PRESS OF T. A. WRIGHT 
1896 



•ox 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS, 



PAGE 

Introductory, i 

Anniversary Sermon : By Rev. William A. 

Mackenzie, Pastor, 3 

Address of Welcome: By Hon. Thomas 

Stevenson, 22 

Presbytery's Greeting: By Rev. Dr. Rey- 
nolds, 23 

Response : By the Pastor, 28 

Addresses on the Five Periods of the 
Pastorate : 

First Period. By Rev. Dr. Gordon,. . , 31 

Second Period. By Rev. G. M. Wiley, . . 34 

Third Period. By Rev. W. S. McEachron, . 36 

Fourth Period. By Rev. Dr. Turnbull, . . 39 

Fifth Period. By Rev. D. S. McKay, . . 43 

Letters of Congratulation from : 

Rev. Dr. Sprague, Brick Church, . . .45 

Rev. Father Donahoe, Roman Catholic Church, 46 
Wife and daughters of Rev. Thos. Farrington, 

deceased, 47 

Rev. Richard H. Steele, 48 

Rev. John R. Fisher, 50 

Rev. Dr. Anderson, 53 

vii. 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

desire seemed hopeless. But the Heavenly Father 
kindly dispersed the clouds, quieted the winds, granted 
us perfect weather from Saturday till Wednesday. 

" E'en so, methinks, the Sabbath brings 
A change o'er all familiar things ; 
A change — we know not whence it came — 
They are, and they are not, the same." 

And it was on the Lord's Day that a great congre- 
gation, 

" Catching the simple chime which calls 
Our feet to the old Church's walls, 
Then passed within the Church's door. 
Where poor are rich and rich are poor, 
To pray the prayers, to hear the Word 
Which there our fathers prayed and heard." 

Twenty-five years ago, the people had hastened 
thither with thankful hearts ; for many months they 
had been as sheep without a shepherd ; the feeling 
of settlement and content that they were once more 
under the care of a man of God, in October, 1871, 
came back to the memory now. With intensified 
gratitude, because of all the blessed years that lay 
between, they lifted up their voices aloud in praise, 
bowed their heads in prayer, uttered by the same 
voice that led their supplications then ; after which 



U, p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

they listened to one of Mr. Mackenzie's sermons. 
The Church was intensely still, as he spoke the 
following words : 

John iii. 14-18. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent 
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be 
lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in Him should not 
perish but have everlasting life. For God so loved 
the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but 
have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into 
the world to condemn the world ; but that the world 
through Him might be saved." 

These words were spoken by our Lord to Nico- 

demus. This man was a Pharisee and ruler of the 

Jews. Fearing what the Jews might say and do if he 

were seen coming to Jesus, he approached Him by 

night, and thus addressed Him, " Rabbi, we know that 

Thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can 

do these miracles which Thou doest except God be 

with Him." The knowledge which the Pharisee had 

gained, of the teachings and doings of the Lord, had 

been sanctified, at least to the extent of his becoming 

a sincere inquirer after the way of life. Had he not 

been sincere, I do not think that Jesus would have 

spoken to him as He did. The account given of this 

interview would lead us to believe that the whole 

conversation had not been recorded. I can only 

account for the character of the Lord's address to this 

man, on the supposition that he had made some in- 

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ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

quiry in reference to the kingdom of God, and the 
conditions of entrance thereinto. What Jesus said to 
him, most certainly, was called forth, rather by some 
such inquiries, than by the statement, " Thou art a 
teacher come from God." With this sincere inquirer 
before Him, Jesus could not trifle. He would tell him, 
in unmistakable terms, what must take place in him 
if he would be numbered among the children of the 
kingdom. He told him that he must be the subject 
of a supernatural change, and of the one Divine power 
through the agency of which this change could be 
brought about. And having so done, in the words 
which I have read as my text, Jesus presented to the 
view of this man the one foundation of the super- 
structure of a saved life. And what wonderful words 
these are ! How much they contain ! The devout 
and the scholarly of the Christian ages have regarded 
them as an epitome of the gospel, and such they are. 
They are the very heart of the Bible. I have chosen 
this passage of inspired truth as the subject of dis- 
course this morning, because it suggests matter for 
reflection which seems to me appropriate to the occa- 
sion. On the last Sabbath of October, 1871, 1 occupied 
this pulpit for the first time as your pastor. This is 
the last Sabbath of October, 1896, and is therefore the 
twenty-fifth anniversary of my settlement among you. 
How quickly the years have gone ! How they seem 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

as a tale that is told, or as a dream when one awaketh ! 
I know not how it may seem to you, but I can scarcely 
realize that twenty-five years have come and gone 
since I first stood before you — that is to say, some of 
you, now before me — and spoke of Jesus as the resur- 
rection and the life. I say some of you, because by far 
the larger proportion of the congregation that greeted 
me that morning, twenty-five years ago, is not with us 
to-day. When I came to occupy this pulpit as your 
stated pastor, I think that I came in obedience to the 
order of the Divine Master, " Go and preach the gos- 
pel" to that people whose call you have received. 
I wish, then, first of all, this morning, to call your 
attention to this gospel as outlined in these words of 
our Lord to Nicodemus. To the question. What is 
the gospel ? or. What is it to preach it ? we have the 
answer returned in the passage before us. If I were 
to define the gospel in a single word, I would say it is 
" Christ." He is its sum and substance. To preach 
it, therefore, is to hold up Christ to the view of men. 
" As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of man be lifted up." In the 
text, as I view it, the Lord refers not to His death 
upon the cross when He says " the Son of man must 
be lifted up." This certainly is implied, but He refers 
to the fact, that, as the crucified one. He must be lifted 
up in the preaching of the gospel, that the death-struck 
5 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

may see Him and live. It was that the bitten IsraeUtes 
might see the serpent, that Moses put it upon a pole 
and set it up in the camp. The lifting up of the ser- 
pent was not to prepare a remedy, but to put in a 
position to be seen, a remedy already prepared. And 
so our Lord here tells us, that for such a purpose He 
must be lifted up, even that the sin-sick may see Him, 
and seeing Him be healed. The preaching of the 
gospel is, therefore, in comprehensive terms, the lifting 
up of Christ, and the preaching that does not do this 
is not the preaching of the gospel as the Lord defines 
it, neither is it efficacious in the salvation of men. But 
in what light is Christ to be lifted up ? According to 
our text He is to be lifted up as the Son of man. In 
order that He might be a Saviour, He became bone 
of our bone and flesh of our flesh. The eternal word 
was made flesh and dwelt among us. And not only 
did Christ become man, but He was the only perfect 
man who ever here lived and died. Which of you 
convinceth me of sin ? was the challenge thrown out 
to His enemies. And although they watched Him 
with eagle eye, they were unable to show Him any- 
thing else than holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate 
from sinners. No sign He ever gave, no word He 
ever spake, no act He ever did, implied even the sense 
of a single defect. He was the Lamb without blemish. 
He was the one raised from among the people, to 
6 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

whom the unblemished sacrifices of the olden time 
all looked, and in whom they all had, in so far as they 
were typical and prophetic, their complete fulfillment. 
This is the Christ of the gospel. He is the Son of man, 
and as such embodying in Himself all perfections, as 
was necessary that He should, would He meet the 
demands of our sinful, suffering, sorrowing, exposed 
humanity. And so all true preaching must hold up 
Christ, in the perfection of His human nature, other- 
wise such as have the true conception of a Saviour 
see Him not as the one to whom they can give the 
confidence of their hearts, and upon whom they can 
rely to meet all their needs. " Inasmuch as the 
children were partakers of flesh and blood. He like- 
wise took part of the same, that we might have a 
merciful, as well as a faithful High Priest, in things 
pertaining to God." But when we present Christ as 
the " Son of man," we have not told all. He is at the 
same time the " Son of God." It is here stated that 
" God sent His Son into the world." He is at once 
the Son of Mary and the Son of God, and must there- 
fore be lifted up to the view of men in His Divine, as 
well as in His human nature. While upon earth He 
claimed and exercised the prerogatives of God. He 
healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, loosed 
the tongues of the dumb, stilled the storm and raised 
the dead. His own words are, " He that hath seen me 
7 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

hath seen the Father." " I and my Father are one." 
And when for such utterances the Jews took up stones 
to stone Him, He did not deny the claim that He had 
put forth, but He did deny, that, in putting it forth. 
He was guihy of blasphemy. When Thomas came 
out of doubt into faith, he was not rebuked for his 
confession, " My Lord and my God." The person of 
Christ, in this twofold nature. Son of God and Son of 
man, lies at the very basis of the whole Christian 
system. And not only so, but the true conception of 
Christ, in His twofold nature, is that, and only that, 
out of which can come a true Christianity. And 
because this is true. He must be so presented to the 
view of sinful men. 

But further, as Emanuel, God with us, Christ must 
be lifted up for a great purpose. This purpose, as 
set forth in the text, is salvation. " That whosoever 
believeth on Him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life." " That the world through Him might 
be saved." " Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He 
shall save His people from their sins." " The Son of 
man is come to seek and to save that which was 
lost." Christ is to be preached, therefore, not merely 
as a great teacher, but first and above all as a Saviour. 
He came into this world for the purpose of rescue. 
The good news and glad tidings of the gospel are not 
that He came to teach or reform the world, but that 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

He came to save it. But to save from what did Christ 
come ? Twice we are told in the text that it was 
from perishing. And what does that word mean, to 
which such emphasis is given ? We get the answer 
by looking a little closer at the text. You will notice 
that over against perishing, Christ places salvation, 
and in each instance He calls salvation everlasting 
life. Perishing, therefore, must mean everlasting 
death. This is what the salvation is from. Not so 
much from misfortune, trouble, ignorance, degrada- 
tion, and into their opposites— all this, but infinitely 
more : that death is the wages of sin, and the sin the 
wages of which is death. Salvation from that death 
of which an apostle speaks when he says, "and sin 
when it is finished bringeth forth death." It is sal- 
vation from the experience of that region where our 
Lord Himself tells us, that "their worm dieth not and 
the fire is not quenched." And just here comes in 
that part of the gospel against which the carnal heart 
revolts. While the exposure is real, yet the exposed 
are unwilling to listen to its portrayal. Still men 
must be told in the plainest terms what they are, and 
what is before them if they reject the one remedy for 
sin. And never was there greater necessity for em- 
phasizing this truth of the gospel than now. The 
lifting up of Christ, as a Saviour, implies that sinners 
are lost, that they are dead in sin and that they have 
9 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

no power to save themselves. And as this is true, to 
such as neglect the great salvation, there can be no 
escape. To all such, the final word of the Lord Him- 
self will be, "Depart from me, ye cursed into ever- 
lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 

Again, a true gospel holds up Christ as saving by 
His death. "God gave His only begotten Son." To 
what did He give Him ? In the story of the cruci- 
fixion we have the answer. "While we were yet 
sinners Christ died for us." " The Son of man came 
not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give 
His life a ransom for many." " He died the just for 
the unjust that He might bring us to God." Christ 
came to save by dying, and the hour of His death was 
the crisis hour of the world, the pivotal point in the 
history of the race. Nowhere did the Lord ever in- 
timate that His power to save lay in the wisdom of 
His instructions, or in the perfection of His example. 
He lived a holy life indeed, the one example for all 
time. He gave Divine instruction, indeed, out of His 
mouth flowed the most gracious and wonderful words. 
But of the gospel this is not the inner and most central 
substance. A pure gospel presents to the view of 
men an atoning sacrifice. It holds up not only Christ, 
but Christ crucified. It is not enough that we preach 
His life and character. Preaching Him as a Divine 
incarnation even, leaves still a mutilated gospel. The 

10 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

central fact of the gospel is the death of Christ, and it 
is only a gospel that presents Him to the view of men 
as "bearing our sins in His body on the tree," as de- 
livered for our offenses and rising again for our 
justification that becomes the power and wisdom of 
God unto salvation. How the first preachers gloried 
in the cross ! How they held up to the view of men, 
" Christ Jesus and Him crucified ! " How they dwelt 
on the death of Christ, as the necessity of the world, 
the one and only foundation and hope of salvation ! 
How they boldly cast their all, for time and for 
eternity, on the redeeming cleansing power of the 
blood of Jesus ! This was regarded by them as the 
central, essential, fundamental gospel truth, and they 
preached it everywhere and with marvelous power. 
This was the secret of their success. And from 
Pentecost on, salvation through the merit of the 
atoning death of Christ has been the gospel's potent 
truth, and this it must continue to be until the world's 
complete redemption, and the kingdom of glory shall 
have come. 

But as we look at the text again, we find that the 
gospel makes faith the one condition of our salvation. 
The Son of man is lifted up, that whosoever believeth 
on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 
God gave His Son, that whosoever believeth on Him 
should not perish but have everlasting life. And 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

again it is said in the verse following the text, "He 
that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that 
believeth not is condemned already because he hath 
not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of 
God." "And still further it is written. He that 
believeth shall be saved, but he that believeth not 
shall be damned." Thus we see how the truth is 
emphasized, that they are they who believe who shall 
be saved. It is no wonder that Paul, getting his 
theology directly from Jesus as he did, emphasized in 
his writing the doctrine of justification by faith, that 
doctrine which in the reformation period revolu- 
tionized the church. It is no wonder that when in the 
prison at Phillippi, the question was asked, "What 
must I do to be saved ? " the answer was returned, 
" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." Nor is it strange, 
that the orthodox Christian world, ever since, has 
held faith to be the vital thing on man's part, in the 
gospel scheme. It is the appropriating act of the 
soul by which Jesus is received and rested on for 
salvation ; the first in the order of the Christian 
graces ; the hinge that turns the whole soul about ; 
the trustful commitment of every interest for time and 
for eternity to the Lamb of God ; the one determining 
condition of everlasting life. 

And although it is not explicitly stated in the text, 
yet it is very plainly implied, that this gospel is also 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

a call to separation from all evil. To save from a 
life of sin evidently means to save into a life of holi- 
ness. And that gospel that would be instrumental in 
doing this, must unsparingly condemn sin and call 
upon those to whom it addresses itself to put it away. 
" The grace of God, or in other words, the gospel hath 
appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying un- 
godliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly 
and righteously and godly in the world ; looking for 
the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the 
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave 
Himself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity, and 
purify us unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
good works." 

And then too, it is important for us to remember 
that this whole gospel scheme is the fruit of God's 
love. "God so loved the world." "To God's love for 
us must be traced all that has been wrought in the 
way of our rescue from the ruins of the fall. The 
coming of Christ, His death upon the cross. His being 
lifted up as the object of our faith, that salvation that 
is ours through trust in Him — all is to be thought of 
as the practical working out of God's wonderful love. 
God commendeth His love toward us, in that while 
we were yet sinners Christ died for us." 

Such then is the gospel as outlined by our Lord 
Himself. And I have so far spoken of the gospel 
13 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

itself, because it is just the gospel that I have been 
preaching from this pulpit for twenty-five years. It 
was with such a thought and purpose that, in response 
to your call, I came to this church twenty-five years 
ago, and my aim, at least, through all these years, has 
been to lift up Christ to the view of those who have 
heard me, as set forth in the text, Christ crucified as 
the one and only Saviour ; faith the one and only con- 
dition of salvation ; God's love the source of all, and a 
holy life the one, the only proof, the one, the only sure 
evidence of vital union of the Lord. I think that I 
can say here and now what the apostle said to the 
Corinthians, " And I, brethren, when I came to you, 
came not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, 
declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I de- 
termined not to know anything among you , save Jesus 
Christ and Him crucified." And I cannot recall a 
single sermon of these twenty-five years, in which the 
cross was not made prominent, and the way to ex- 
perience its saving power made plain. And looking 
back over this quarter of a century's ministry, I think 
that I can again use the apostle's words, when he says, 
" And I was with you in weakness and fear and much 
trembling. And my speech and my preaching was 
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in de- 
monstration of the spirit and of power ; that your faith 
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the 
14 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

power of God." My ministry among you, I know, 
has been but an imperfect one. It has not been in 
all respects what it should have been — what it might 
have been. In many instances actual doing has fallen 
behind desire and purpose. Mistakes have been 
made, but they have been errors of judgment rather 
than of heart. One aim, through all these years, has 
been over all — the glory of God, in and through the 
highest well-being of the Church. And I wish just 
here to make grateful acknowledgment of the con- 
siderate way in which you have borne with faults and 
failings and weakness and imperfections. And 
especially do I wish to make public record of the 
evidence of your devotion and loyalty, during the past 
five years, in view of the providences which have 
entered into my experience. All this will be grate- 
fully treasured so long as memory is capable of 
performing its office, and wherever I may be. The 
privilege of preaching this gospel for twenty-five 
years, and the privilege of hearing it for the same 
length of time ; how suggestive ! I know not how the 
reflection may impress you, but to me, it is almost 
overwhelming. How precious the privilege and yet 
how solemn ! How joyful, and yet how sad the out- 
come may be! Says Paul, "We are unto God a 
sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved and in 
them that perish. To the one we are a savor of 
15 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

death unto death, and to the other we are a savor of 
life unto life." What wonder that the author of these 
should exclaim, " And who is sufficient for these 
things ? " O Lord and Master of us all, we come to 
Thee with both the pulpit and the pew of these twenty- 
five years, and beseech Thee, that in Thine infinite 
love and mercy, Thou wouldst remove the many 
blemishes and defects, by the application of Thine 
own precious blood, and accept for the glory of Thine 
own great name, all that has been right in Thy sight. 
It is not my purpose to speak of results, in this ser- 
mon, this has been left to other hands, and they will 
be set before you later. I wish you however to note 
the changes which the twenty-five years have wrought 
in the complexion of the congregation. How different 
its make up to-day from its make up this day twenty- 
five years ago ! How many who sat in these pews on 
that day do not sit in them to-day ! They have gone 
to swell the company beyond the flood. There are 
none of our homes to-day as they were that day. 
From the patriarch of five score years, down to the 
infant of a few days they have gone. Fathers, 
mothers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, parents, 
children have been cut down by the sweep of the 
great reaper's sickle. And then too, a large proportion 
of those who go to make up our membership to-day, 
were twenty-five years ago unborn. But a multitude 
i6 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

of thoughts crowd upon me to which I cannot give ut- 
terance now. I can only wait to say, that I hope that 
the result of this twenty-five years' ministry has been 
to bring many souls to Christ. I hope that, in the 
experience of some, dark days have been made 
brighter. 

I hope that some have gotten a deeper insight into 
the solemnity and importance of life. I hope that 
the gospel as preached through these years has been 
instrumental in moulding Christian life and character. 
I hope that in the case of those who have drifted be- 
yond sight and reach they have been helped to meet 
death in peace. 

One sad thought however comes to me now. Some 
in so far as I can see have refused to yield to the 
claims of the gospel through these years. From the 
very beginning of my ministry here, the Lord has 
been knocking at the door of your hearts. O ! if you 
only knew the gifts of God, and who He is, who has 
thus been knocking for admission, you would long 
ago have opened and let Him in. Will you not listen 
now ? He knocks here, in the hush and still of this 
quiet, sacred, solemn hour. Here amid the memories 
of the hour, as well as by the words I utter, Jesus 
urges Himself upon your acceptance. O, I beseech 
you, yield to His claims, open the door of your hearts, 
and permit Him to enter and fill them with His peace. 
17 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

And now as we turn away from the past and look to 
the future, what of it ? What will be its experiences ? 
What will be its revelations ? I do not know. Close 
up to the place where we stand its secrets are locked 
and we have no key with which we can unlock them. 
But this I do know and of it I am sure, embracing and 
living that gospel I have outlined, we shall be ready 
for anything which the future may hold for us. And 
if it were my last word to you who are here this 
morning, I would say, let the lifted up Christ be the 
object of your faith, in the merit of His atoning death 
rest your all, to Him give the love of your hearts and 
the earnest devoted service of your lives, then, living 
or dying here or elsewhere, you are His ; the outcome 
will be peace here, and unmingled bliss up there, in 
that bright and happy world, the center and sun and 
light and joy of which will be the Lord Himself. 

t ^ ^ t 

There were present that day in the audience 
some whose affection had drawn them many miles. 
James Robertson had traveled away from the New 
Hampshire hills, leaving his own flock for a little 
while that he might be "a boy again" in Mr. 
Mackenzie's congregation. One came from Mas- 
sachusetts to represent her family, formerly promi- 
i8 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

nent in White Church work, especially in choir 
and Sabbath School. Time would fail to mention 
all the visitors, some on the 25th, others here for 
the 27th. But even counting them in, had those 
persons who attended the service that morning in 
1871 been called upon to rise, the number could 
hardly have reached twenty. 

Let the sorrowful thought pass; and as a token 
of the pleasant changes which the years have 
wrought, glance at the church in the evening In 
old times, there used to be morning and afternoon 
service continuously, with Sabbath School be- 
tween; now, after Young People's meeting, a 
goodly throng began to fill the pews, till, at seven 
o'clock, scarcely any remained unoccupied. In 
the pulpit stands the talented son of our Minister ; 
with burning words he addresses the congregation, 
who, as they listen, grow more deeply solemn. 
" These that have turned the world upside down 
have come hither also . . ." The text, his 
theme, the revolutionary power of the gospel, turn- 
ing that upside down which needs overthrowing, 
was most powerfully treated ; sin painted in all its 
blackness ; the remedy set forth with thrilling, 
compelling tenderness. There was but one opinion 
when the sermon was ended — that " Mr. Mackenzie 
must be proud of his son." But what is of in- 
19 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

finitely more importance, the conviction was forced 
upon all minds that the young preacher has a 
great work before him ; " not as pleasing men," 
but of drawing souls unto Christ. 

Passing over Monday, which was given up to 
preparations for the more social part of the cele- 
bration, we take up the tale on Tuesday morning. 
Invitations had been issued to 

Rev. T. B. Turnbull, D.D., at Argyle. 
Rev. A. A. Graham, Cambridge. 
Rev. Henry Gordon, D. D., Coila. 
Rev. C. C. French, East Greenwich. 
Rev. A. W. Morris, Greenwich. 
Rev. G. M. Wiley, West Hebron. 
Rev. G. W. Bovard, North Argyle. 
Rev. J. B. Reynolds, D. D., Putnam. 
Rev. D. G. McKay, D. D., Shushan. 
Rev. Wm. J. McMichael, South Argyle. 
Rev. W. S. McEachron, Hebron. 

Nine of these came. Rev. W. B. Shortt, of 
Cambridge, was obliged to decline his invitation. 
Rev. W. Henning, now residing in Glens Falls, 
whose name also is still on the roll, was not 
present. Neither was Rev. J. B. Scouller, D. D., 
renowned for his History of the U. P. Church : he 
lives too far away ; — as does Rev. John Crawford, 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

nominally belonging to Argyle Presbytery ; his 
home is in Damascus, where he labors as a foreign 
missionary. 

The "Apostolic number" was made up by 
brethren outside of our denomination, instanced by 
Rev. John Anderson, Dr. Richard Turnbull, and 
others to be mentioned later. 

There also arrived by train and carriage (pos- 
sibly on the bicycle) multitudes of those once 
members of the White Church, living near enough 
to spend the day here, and revive old associations. 
We may not single them out personally, but re- 
mark that their presence added to our great 
pleasure, making the day the more complete ; and 
what they said to us, as hand met hand in earnest 
pressure, revealed that the happiness was reciprocal. 

The Music Committee was under the leadership 
of one of the Church's " sons of song," aided by a 
"daughter of music;" co-operating with all those 
who love to praise the Lord, they had cheerfully 
spent evening after evening in practice, had 
selected most appropriate Psalms : " All People 
that on Earth do Dwell " of course, and : " In 
Salem Praise His Name." There were no elaborate 
attempts at musical display ; but, besides the afore- 
said Psalms, congregationally sung with the aid 
of choir and organ, two Psalm-Anthems lifted our 

21 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

hearts to heaven while our lips were mute and the 
trained voices uttered the words. 

The Chairman, Hon. Thomas Stevenson, then 
arose in the embowered pulpit, and said : 

The object of this meeting is for the purpose of 
celebrating the 25th anniversary of the pastorate of 
the Rev. William A. Mackenzie over this congre- 
gation. 

A pastorate made prominent and impressive not 
so much by its long duration, as that it has been 
so conducive, in the providence of God, to the 
spiritual interest and growth in grace of this 
people, and made eminently so by the every-day 
life of their pastor, which has gained for him, not 
only the esteem and affection of his congregation, 
but of this community. Such conditions in the 
minds of his people seem to call for something 
more than a passing notice ; and in order that the 
occasion may receive the consideration its impor- 
tance suggests, and that we may testify to our ap- 
preciation to such conditions, we convene to-day, 
within the walls of this old historic church, made 
historic by its many associations, its noble line of 
ancestors, its long life, and by the lives of its sons 
who have gone out from it, and add one more 
page to its time-honored history ; to this anni- 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

versary, in behalf of this congregation, I, as Chair- 
man of this meeting, extend to you all a cordial 
welcome. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

It had been arranged that the speakers of the 
morning should be for the most part the co-tem- 
poraries of the Salem pastor ; but departing slight- 
ly at the outset from the order of time. Rev. Dr. 
Reynolds, of Putnam, was chosen to bring Pres- 
bytery's greeting ; the reason for this choice was 
geographical : he had the longest journey to take, 
yet he made it with alacrity, and was one of the 
first of the ministers to arrive. His speech is 
given below: 

Brothers and sisters of this Church, and you. 
Brother Mackenzie, its venerated pastor : I come 
this morning bearing to you the greetings of your 
Presbytery. 

It will be better for me, I believe, for I find 
most of the members of the Presbytery are present, 
to acknowledge my credentials are hardly Presby- 
terial. Ordinarily in such a position, I should be 
able to show the signatures of moderator and clerk 
at the bottom of my commission. I ardently hope 
however, that the Presbytery will both admire the 
23 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

wisdom of those who selected me, and also vote 
my commission sufficiently regular. 

As a Presbytery, we esteem it a high privilege 
to meet with the most venerable of our congrega- 
tions. Most venerable, for in addition to 130 years 
of existence on American soil, we must add its 
years previous in Ireland, where it was born and 
reared until it was a fair lassie of 13 or 14 years 
of age. 

We honor this Church also for the pastors it 
has had as well as for the pastor it has. Clark, 
the Proudfits, Lillie, Halley, Farrington, Forsythe, 
Mackenzie! What an array of worthy names! 
Names representing, too, in the majority of them 
all, great men as well as good — pious men, devoted 
and exemplary pastors — men of discretion as well 
as of piety, who built up Zion because using more 
gold and silver than hay and stubble. 

We also honor you for the length of your pas- 
torates. For a long pastorate is generally as 
creditable to the church as the pastor. Long pas- 
torates come about in one of three ways: i. By 
the congregation holding on to the pastor, saying: 
"We will not let thee go;" or 2. By the pastor 
holding on to the congregation, his motto being : 
"I stick;" or 3. By a mutual, tenacious embrace, 
springing of equal affection. 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

So far as I know, your long pastorates have 
been of this third class. The relation has been 
formed with the feeling that it shall last, may be 
not "till death do us part," but until God in His 
providence makes it plain we should part. 

I say we honor you for these long pastorates, 
running, if we count alone your American history, 
i6, 20, 40, 2, II, 8, 13 and 25 years. But if we 
count Dr. Clark's pastorate in Ireland as well as in 
this country, then instead of 16, he served this con- 
gregation 32 years. While Proudfit's (the 2d 
Proudfit) 40 lapping back into his father's term 7 
years, his time as sole pastor is about 33 years. 
The three quite long pastorates being those of 
Thomas Clark, Alexander Proudfit and W. A. 
Mackenzie. 

We honor you for your achievements in connec- 
tion with your pastors. The numbers you have 
been instrumental in bringing to Christ, many of 
whom from time to time have gone elsewhere to 
continue, in connection with other churches, the 
work they began with you ; for the contributions 
you have made to the Boards of the Church : al- 
ways, I believe, up to the requisite average per 
member, and sometimes over ; for the energetic 
example you have furnished to the other churches 
of this Presbytery ; for the honor you have done 
25 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

our denomination — representing it before those other 
Churches of Salem; for the societies you have or- 
ganized, as your "C. U." and " L. M. S." Here 
allow me to notice what two of your pastors have 
done. 

In Scouller's Manual, after giving a list of Alex- 
ander Proudfit's pamphlets and public addresses, 
the record proceeds : 

" In addition to these he wrote nine or ten 
tracts, which were printed and circulated by a 
female tract society in his congregation before The 
American Tract Society was organized." 

Thus Dr. Proudfit laid some of the foundation 
stones in the wall of this great institution, which 
has done so much to enlighten the world in the 
knowledge of Jesus — The American Tract Society. 

But your present pastor is no whit behind him, 
for he, too, did pioneer work on another, a great 
and noble institution which is the marvel, not to 
say miracle of the present decade. I refer to 
The Society of Christian Endeavor. Years before 
(you of this Church will recall the time) this 
Society's birth was announced, it was in existence 
here, in your Church, organized by the wisdom of 
your pastor, inspired by the Spirit, no doubt. It 
was not called, I believe. The Society of Christian 
Endeavor, but it was one, and has remained that 
26 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. Y. 

during all these years . . . They call Dr. Fran- 
cis Clark, "Father Clark." Without wishing to de- 
tract an iota from his honor, yet in the light of 
Salem's Society, he is only " Brother Clark," and a 
younger brother of your pastor, Mr. Mackenzie. 

Our greeting would be too long, dear Church 
and dear pastor, were we to tarry to tell you all 
we honor you for. In short, we honor you for 
what you have been and what you are ; for what 
you have done and what you are doing. 

We come to you with greeting, dear pastor, be- 
cause we love you, our fellow-pastor, and we look 
up to you — you have been in the Presbytery so 
long — as to our elder brother. We wish you many 
farther years of usefulness. And knowing that 
God of late years has sent a thorn in your flesh 
to try you, we pray that he will remove it, or 
encist it, that it may not be grievous unto you. 
And we pray that you may still find His grace 
sufficient for you. 

And we come to you, dear Church, with greet- 
ing because we love you. Argyle Presbytery 
represents a family circle of twelve fair daughters. 
Of these you are the eldest, though not an " old 
maid," for Christ is your husband. 



27 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

This was Mr. Mackenzie's reply : 

Brethren of the Argyle Presbytery, I feel that I 
cannot, this morning, find fitting words with which 
to respond to the kindly greetings which you bring 
to me and my people through your representative. 
As I look over the Presbytery now and then go 
back in my thought twenty-five years, my sensations 
are very similar to what they were last Sabbath 
morning as I looked over the congregation that 
was assembled before me. The congregation then 
assembled, and the one assembled to greet me 
twenty-five years ago, although the same in name, 
was not the same as to its make-up. The years 
had wrought their changes. Some had gone to 
other places, but far the larger part had passed 
over the Jordan. And so the Presbytery that 
comes with kindly greetings on this anniversary day, 
although the same in name, as to its composition, 
is yet not the same. Then the roll of the Presby- 
tery read thus : Henning, Shortt, Gordon, Andrews, 
Fisher, Bigger, Wiley, Clapperton, Gladstone, Ure. 
I mention only those who were in the active 
ministry, and who were present to receive me as 
one of their number and install me as pastor of the 
Salem congregation. Of that number only two. 
Brother Gordon and Brother Wiley, are here to-day. 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

But as the absent ones from time to time went to 
other fields, others have come to take their places 
who have been their worthy successors. From the 
first day until now my associations with the brethren 
of the Presbytery have been the most pleasant. 
Although in matters which have come before us 
for consideration, we have sometimes differed, and 
each has contended earnestly for what he believed 
to be the faith, yet the contention has not been in 
bitterness but in love. We have had respect for 
each other's convictions and views, and however 
wide have been our differences, still these have 
never been permitted to stand in the way of the 
most kindly feeling and the most brotherly treat- 
ment the one of the other. It is a great pleasure 
for me here and now to say, that I cannot recall a 
single word spoken in anger during all my associa- 
tion with the Presbytery of Argyle. Most heartily, 
therefore, do I in my own behalf and in behalf of 
my congregation thank you for your kindly greet- 
ings. The years that have come and gone have 
been years which have been full of labor. I re- 
member the sermon preached by Brother Shortt 
on the occasion of my installation, from the text, 
" Feed the Church of God, over which the 
Holy Ghost hath made you Overseer." That I 
have tried to do. I think I can say that my 
29 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

preaching has not been with enticing words of 
man's wisdom. Jesus Christ and Him crucified 
has been my theme. I have not found it necessary 
to go outside of the inspired word of God, to get 
the food convenient for hungry souls. I have not 
deemed it necessary to depart from the old faith, 
in order to interest and help the people committed 
to my charge. I have always remembered one ex- 
pression in the charge to me by Brother Wiley on 
the day of my installation. It was this, " Fill up 
the cask, fill up the cask." I have found that a 
necessary admonition. My brother, the cask has 
been filled and emptied a great many times. I 
could speak long on the importance of this ad- 
monition to any minister, and of the absolute 
necessity of heeding it, if he would be successful. 
But I am admonished that I must not take the 
time of others. My brother, in bringing the greet- 
ings of Presbytery, you have seen fit to refer to the 
societies and organizations of the congregation and 
the work which has been accomplished through 
them. From the very first, I have taken a deep 
interest in the young, and have sought to have 
them trained in active Christian work. In this I 
think I have to some good degree succeeded. I, 
twenty-two years and more ago, organized our 
Young People's Society ; a society having all the 
30 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

features of the more modern societies, and one 
which has been a great power for good in the 
Church. In all these years there has not been the 
omission of a single weekly meeting for prayer and 
praise and conference. Had I cared to take out a 
patent right, it might to-day have been Father 
Mackenzie instead of Father Clark. But I must 
not talk longer. My brethren, again I thank you 
for your kindly greetings. Wherever I may be I 
shall always cherish feelings the kindest and sen- 
timents of the highest esteem for the Presbytery of 
Argyle. May the blessing of God rest upon you, 
and may we all at last be found in the General 
Assembly of the Church of the first born whose 
names are written in heaven. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

Dr. Gordon was then announced. It requires but 
a little stretch of imagination to hear in fancy the 
rich brogue of the Doctor as the torrent of eloquence 
rolled off his tongue. Let his address speak for 
itself : 

Such an anniversary as this is most worthy of 
being observed, and must be beneficial in its results. 
That a pastor, in an age characterized for restlessness 
31 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

and for an Athenian curiosity for something new, and 
relying only on the simple truths of the gospel, should 
continue for a quarter of a century in one place with- 
out any decrease of usefulness or in the confidence 
of the people, is an event worthy of being held up 
as a beacon-light to others in the ministry. 

The ministry is not a failure. I do not undervalue 
other instrumentalities ; but the Head of the Church 
has never said of any appliance, what He has said 
of the ministry, " Lo, I am with you always." 

But I am to say a few words on the first five years 
of the pastorate in this Church. I believe the first 
five years of a minister's labor in the congregation 
will either prepare the way for his further usefulness, 
or make it easier for him to move to another field 
with little objection on the part of the people. We 
would mention some of the things that are followed 
by permanent usefulness. 

ist. That he be contented; feeling that it is the 
place assigned by the Head of the Church, and that 
his best efforts are to be put forth for the welfare of 
that place. When a people get the idea that a mm- 
ister is making them a waiting-place, until he can 
procure a more desirable field, the pastor's interest 
in the place will lead to no great effort, and the 
people's interest in that pastor will not be very 
strong. 

32 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

2d. There are two parts to his charge : those 
entering Hfe and those leaving it. Systematic in- 
struction is absolutely necessary. It is not only a 
means of diffusing the pastor's influence, but the 
most delightful part of a pastor's life, to see a gen- 
eration growing up, imbibing those ideas that elevate 
the life and prepare for all the possibilities of the 
journey here below. This seems to be one of the 
strongholds of the pastor of this Church. 

3d. The pastor who expects to be permanently 
useful must rely on the gospel and on the duties 
growing out of the office. Artful management may 
succeed for a while, but it will end in disappointment. 
Let him act so as to secure confidence. Let him 
stand by the Bible, and the Bible will stand by him. 
A pastor who scatters the manna of revealed truth, 
and a people who gather it and appropriate it by 
faith, will hold a very endearing relationship to each 
other. It will outlast every other relationship. The 
hearer whose soul is being refreshed, from week to 
week, is never found to be a troubler in Israel. 

4th. But what is a minister without the aid of his 
congregation ? He may be zealous and faithful, but 
there are congregations that are most opposed to the 
best acts of the pastor. But this people have rejoiced 
in the message, and naturally prized the messenger. 
The lesson which this day teaches is, that nothing 
33 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

lasts like the gospel. The truths and methods of 
instruction that have produced the strong men and 
women, who have occupied and still occupy these 
pews, should not be given up. The world needs such 
persons more than anything else. In the present day 
there is a desire to prune the gospel, recast it to 
make it more acceptable to the tastes. We hope 
that there will always be a generation here that will 
resist such ministrations, and hold up the old banner 
of light and salvation to a perishing world. 

t t ^ ^ 



Dr. Gordon having retired, Rev. G. M. Wiley was 
called on to give the history of the next five years. 
His remarks, though briefer, were as entirely appro- 
priate to the occasion as were those of the former 
speaker. 

He began by facetiously complaining that all his 
thunder had been stolen. He had himself intended 
to speak about that charge he had given, as to 
"filling up the cask;" he remembered using those 
very words ; not often did he so distinctly recollect 
things he had said, neither were his remarks ordi- 
narily so well kept in mind. Probably this sentence 
had impressed itself because it was not original with 

34 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. K 

him. Very few things were born at first hand in the 
brains of the preachers who uttered them ; they could 
and did borrow and adapt : it was well they might, 
for such thoughts were better than their own would 
be. 

As to the period which he had been chosen to 
describe: it is the time when the novelty of the 
situation has worn off, the freshness has gone, the 
tinsel vanished — " hard-pan " is reached. This state 
of affairs shows the man as he is ; it is the man 
behind the message that hereafter produces the 
effect. 

So when a minister continues, as this one has 
done, preaching with undiminished success, awaken- 
ing increased interest, with greater results, it proves 
the 'worth of the material beneath. 

It was the simple story of the cross, which has 
been told, week after week, year after year, from 
this pulpit; no sensational means resorted to, to 
excite popularity; no tampering with the truth, no 
softening of unpalatable doctrines. Christ and Him 
crucified has ever been the theme; the pure Word 
of God the source whence every sermon has been 
drawn. 

So much for the past. Glancing at the future, 
the hope was expressed that physical strength might 
be renewed, so that the man might be permitted 
35 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

still to give the same message ; " but," the speaker 
added regretfully, " the prospect is not bright." 

^ ^ ^ t 

It might appear strange that so young a man as 
Rev. W. S. McEachron should be asked to personate 
the next period — that of from fifteen to ten years ago. 
The reason why this was a happy selection can be 
gathered from his own recital : 

It is hardly possible, nor do I deem it necessary 
to attempt any detailed history of this period. After 
a man has been in a field for ten years, he finds the 
demands upon his time and energies growing more 
varied and numerous, so that each year is marked 
by more abundant labor. During these years many 
helpful words were spoken, many kind acts per- 
formed, many blessings experienced, which are well 
worth recalling to-day ; but no words of mine are 
needed to suggest them to your minds. This period 
is peculiarly attractive to me, because it marks the 
beginning of my association with Mr. Mackenzie as 
a brother presbyter. When I was licensed to preach 
the gospel, he was the one appointed to examine me 
in regard to my motives in entering the ministry. 
The manner in which he performed that duty won 
36 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

my heart. Shortly after this he invited me to preach 
in his Church; and the impressions received from 
him that day have been helpful to me in all the years 
of my ministry. I have always remembered the 
tender earnestness with which he prayed for me 
before the service that morning. I entered the pulpit 
feeling, as I had never felt before, " Truly, God is in 
this place!" In the autumn of the same year I was 
called to my present charge ; and from that day I 
have found in Mr. Mackenzie a wise counselor and 
a faithful friend. I therefore esteem it a special 
pleasure to have this opportunity to express my 
gratitude to Mr. Mackenzie for the personal help 
and inspiration I have received from fellowship with 
him, and my high appreciation of the splendid service 
he has rendered the cause of truth and righteousness 
in this community. In the first year of my ministry 
I received two impressions from your pastor, which 
have since become convictions with me ; and I think 
I may appropriately mention them on this occasion. 
Every true minister is sent of God. His creden- 
tials bear the golden seal of the Trinity, and are 
signed by Him who bled upon the cross. Such a 
man goes not forth alone. The divine call is sup- 
plemented by the divine presence. His power is 
not eloquence merely. Men are moved by eloquence, 
but they are saved by powers that are invisible. 
37 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

The chief power of the preacher is not in the strength 
of his mind, nor in the eloquence of his speech, but 
in the fact that God is with him. 

Then the minister comes to his work equipped 
with a divine weapon, quick and powerful, sharper 
than any two-edged sword. While the Bible is God's 
gift to every man, the Christian minister is its chosen 
custodian. He is to unlock its secrets, declare its 
promises, and preach it as the very Word of God. 
Since Christ is the door, he is to open the door and 
let men see the Saviour. Since Christ is the bread 
of life, he is to offer Him to this famishing world. 
This Book will never become obsolete. These are 
the thoughts of the Almighty. This is the weapon 
God has chosen to subdue the universe. Although 
old and tried, it has not lost its edge. The substance 
of its message is : " God was in Christ reconciling 
the world unto Himself, not imputing unto men their 
trespasses." This Word of reconciliation is com- 
mitted unto us. Such is the message our brother 
has delivered, with all earnestness and unction. He 
has never been ashamed of it; never tried to hide 
any of its distinctive features; never allowed any 
tampering with its claims. He has held on his 
simple strain, rejoicing that he "had been allowed 
of God to be put in trust with the gospel ; " and he 
has declared it exactly as he received it. This is 
38 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

the test and touchstone of all true gospel preaching 
in every church and every age. 

I congratulate the members of this congregation 
that you have a pastor who is faithful to God's Word, 
and who relies upon divine power to give it moving 
effect; and therefore the foolishness of preaching 
has become the power of God unto the salvation of 
many in this place. 

I heartily congratulate Mr. Mackenzie on these 
most successful years of pulpit and pastoral labor; 
and I join with my brethren in the prayer, that God 
may give him health to continue the work, so dear 
to his heart, for many years to come ; and that what- 
ever may be in the future, he may finish his course 
with joy and the ministry he has received of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

The next representative speaker was Dr. T. B. 
Turnbull, who for twelve years has occupied the 
pulpit of the Argyle Church. Any who were deprived 
of the pleasure of listening that morning to his strgng, 
melodious voice, will be glad to read what he then 
said : 

It was a happy thought of the Committee of 
Arrangements for this occasion that the subject be- 
39 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

fore us this morning should be presented on " the 
installment plan," for who would have hoped to have 
coped with so important a subject alone, or in the 
compass of a single address? It is a real pleasure 
to be here, and to share with you the joy of this 
happy occasion. Geographically it has not been my 
privilege to be as near to the Salem congregation or 
its pastor as have some of my co-presbyters. We 
have been separated by some lofty hills, yet I have 
esteemed both him and you as near friends. 

Among the good brethren in the Argyle Pres- 
bytery there have been none whose counsel and 
fellowship I have more highly esteemed than that 
of our dear brother Mackenzie. 

When I came into the Presbytery, a stranger, 
he took me in and was the first, if I mistake not, 
to invite me to assist at a communion season, It 
was then I began to know the man who has for 
the past twelve years continued to impress him- 
self upon me as a spiritually-minded Christian 
brother in whom the heart could trust. There 
were others with whom you would become ac- 
quainted more readily, but perhaps none whose 
acquaintance would wear better. When he dropped 
into the Argyle manse with his boys and dog and 
gun, as he was wont to do on his summer trip 
to the Adirondacks, his visits were always greatly 
40 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. Y. 

enjoyed socially; but it was his coming on com- 
munion occasions to preach the word, that he ap- 
peared at his best. 

Then his spiritual power was manifest and he 
was to us the harbinger of blessing. 

The deep spiritual awakening, and large acces- 
sions to the membership of some of our congre- 
gations in connection with the labors of our 
synodical evangelist is still fresh in our minds. 

No one of our members had so much to do 
with the preparing of the way for these great re- 
sults as did the Salem pastor. He not only ar- 
ranged as the Synod's Committee for the meetings, 
but threw his whole soul into the work in his own 
and neighboring Churches. We are glad to be 
able to acknowledge, even at this late hour, the 
service which he rendered to the cause of the 
Master, in the Argyle congregation, in connection 
with the great revival of the winter of 1894-95. 

Allow me to add my congratulations to those 
which have already been presented. I congratu- 
late you as pastor and people on this long, happy, 
and fruitful pastorate. 

The divorce craze, which has been rampant 
among the churches in many places, has not dis- 
turbed you. "What God joined together" has not 
been put asunder. There has been here neither 
41 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR, 

"incompatibility" nor "lack of support." Our 
brother has not complained, as I once heard one 
who was leaving his pastoral charge, and who had 
a reputation for flitting from church to church, say 
"that he had not room to spread himself." No 
complaint of this kind has ever to my knowledge 
escaped your pastor's lips. In this village and 
community he has found ample room to work, and 
here his labor of love has been reciprocated by a 
people worthy of the man. 

Reference has been made by a former speaker 
to the fact that the out look for a long continuance 
of this happy pastorate is somewhat clouded to-day 
by the precarious condition of your pastor's health. 
May Providence kindly dispel that cloud and give 
to our brother many years more of successful labor 
in this field if it be His will. 

You will pardon me in throwing out the hint, 
that possibly you could arrange to relieve the 
pastor of the second service on the Sabbath — the 
one which draws so much the most heavily upon 
his nervous powers — and give the evening meeting 
into the hands of your well-equipped Young People's 
Society. 

In many places the Young People's meeting has 
proven a most satisfactory substitute for the second 
sermon. Should the adoption of this suggestion. 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

or some other plan, aid in prolonging this present 
happy pastorate by helping to lift some of the 
burdens from shoulders which are not so strong as 
they once were to bear them, we will all have 
occasion to rejoice together. 

May our kind Heavenly Father, if it be His will, 
grant you many returns of this happy anniversary. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

Rev. D. G. McKay was then requested to step 
forward. It was an interesting moment when the 
final half decade of the quarter century was to be 
passed in review by one whose work in the vicinity 
was on the verge of being finished. To congratulate 
Mr. Mackenzie on his long stay with his people, while 
saying farewell to us as his neighbors, might seem a 
delicate and difficult task. But it was well performed. 
The reverend Doctor referred particularly to the work 
in which the Shushan and Salem pastors had been 
coadjutors in promoting the cause of temperance and 
good citizenship. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

After prayer and singing, which closed the morn- 
ing hours, the chairman had an important announce- 
ment to make concerning the mid-day repast. The 

43 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

"feast of reason" may satisfy mind and soul, but 
the exhausted body needs refection. So the audience 
was invited to Proudfit Hall. No fitter place could 
have been named for White Church people. When 
the guests arrived thither, they found tables commo- 
diously arranged, neatly set, loaded with bountiful 
provision : with which, thanks to numerous skillful 
waiters, every one of the three hundred and fifty 
were quickly supplied. In the center of the room 
the eyes of all were attracted by the sight of four 
roast pigs, with curly tails and a corn-cob in each 
mouth; white-aproned carvers deftly put these in 
shape for eating. 

From the gallery of the Hall, Rev. Thomas 
Mackenzie's two little sons looked down to see 
" Grandfather " sitting at the head of the board. 
Years afterwards, we wonder, will some dim remem- 
brance of that festal day still linger in their minds ? 
Their memory of Salem, alas ! will be only of the 
long ago and the far away. 

Promptness always characterizes any proceeding 
in our Church. The sexton was ringing the bell at 
the appointed hour of the afternoon. As the time 
had been differently named in the various printed 
notices, of course there was a slight confusion in 
people's minds as to when they ought to be there; 
a few were late. Not so the singers : all were in their 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

seats, the organist ready to strike the note. The 
chairman, too, had his place. Mention of each detail 
must be omitted, that due attention may be given 
to the letters received. Mr. John King had them 
systematically put together in their order, so that, 
smoothly and without hesitation, he might give their 
contents. 

First came the salutation of the " Brick Church," 
as the First Presbyterian is familiarly termed: 

Salem, N. Y., October i8, 1896. 

To THE Session and Congregation of the 
United Presbyterian Church, Salem, N. Y. 

Dear Brethren — Grace, mercy, and peace be unto 
you from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and from the Holy Spirit. 

We extend to you our sincere Christian greetings 
in view of the approaching twenty-fifth anniversary 
of the installation of your pastor, the Rev. William 
A. Mackenzie. 

We rejoice with you that the Heavenly Father has 
continued to you for so many years the privilege of 
your pastor's faithful services in the gospel. 

We rejoice with him that the Master has permitted 
him to minister so long to the same loyal, devoted 
congregation. 

45 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

We thank God for the rich results of these twenty- 
five years of labor together, the full fruitage of which 
only eternity can reveal. 

We invoke upon you, both pastor and people, the 
blessing of Almighty God ; and, one with you in the 
faith and love of God, and in the hope of the blessed 
immortality through our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray 
that the Divine favor, which has been granted to you 
in these twenty-five years past, may be continued 
still more abundantly for many years yet to come. 
Fraternally yours in the fellowship of the gospel, 
The Session of the First Presbyterian Church, 

Edward P. Sprague, Pastor. 
Arthur Wayman, Clerk. 

^ t t ^ 

This was succeeded by the note of congratula- 
tion from the priest of the Roman Catholic Church. 

Salem, N. Y., October 26, 1896. 
Mr. John King, of the Invitation Committee. 

My Dear Sir—\ am in receipt of your cordial in- 
vitation to attend the anniversary exercises on Tues- 
day, and as I cannot be present I beg you to tender 
my kindest greetings to the Rev. Mr. Mackenzie and 
his congregation, on that occasion. 
46 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

The reverend pastor is to be congratulated on 
having so devoted a congregation, while the congre- 
gation is equally to be congratulated on having so 
zealous a pastor. 

The good he has accomplished during the past quar- 
ter of a century is by no means confined to the limits of 
his own congregation, but extends far and wide out- 
side. Of this no better proof can be had than the 
high esteem in which the reverend gentleman is held, 
by every member of our community, regardless of 
creed. I sincerely hope the genial, broad-minded, 
courteous gentleman may be spared many years to 
continue his good work in our midst, and that when 
the end of his labors does come, his reward may be that 
of all those who do the Master's work well. 
Very truly yours, 

J. F. DONAHOE. 

¥" ¥" ^ ^ 

That which comes after was from a daughter of 
Rev. Thomas Farrington, deceased, mentioned in 
the address of Dr. Reynolds. She wrote thus for 
her mother and sisters : 

Please extend to your committee our very appre- 
ciative thanks, for their kind invitation to attend the 
anniversary next Tuesday, October 27th. 
47 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

We are warmly interested in the life of the " old 
White Church in Salem," wishing peace within her 
walls and every good and perfect gift to her mem- 
bership. 

With sincere regret, that we are unable to be 
present, we send our heartfelt congratulations to 
pastor and people. 

$^ t ^ t 

Rev. Richard H. Steele explains himself ; we will 
only add that, last summer, Dr. Steele revisited 
the home of his youth, and delighted us with the 
proofs of his affectionate memories ; one mani- 
festation of it was found in a recent number of 
the "United Presbyterian." 

Detroit, Mich., October 21, 1896. 
113 Charlotte Avenue. 

Mr. David H. Safford. 

Iliave received by this morning's mail the invita- 
tion to attend the exercises commemorative of the 
twenty-fifth anniversary of the settlement of Rev. W. 
A. Mackenzie as pastor of the United Presbyterian 
Church of Salem. 

The event is worthy of the recognition you are 
contemplating. Twenty-five years in one pastorate is 
48 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N, V. 

an honorable record, and both the minister and his 
people are deserving of most hearty congratulation. 
Anything of this nature that occurs in the village and 
town of Salem is of deep interest to me. 

This is the church in which my father was trained 
under the ministry of the distinguished Rev. Dr. 
Alexander Proudfit, a man full of zeal and good 
works. Many of my relatives have often worshiped 
in its assemblies, and their names are enrolled among 
its membership. I have often occupied your pulpit 
on my frequent visits to Salem. 

In the list of your ministers no one has been 
more successful and honored than your present pastor. 
Very few can understand the labor he has performed 
and, the diligence he has exhibited during this twenty- 
five years' ministry. In every respect he has dis- 
charged the work the Master has placed in his hands 
in a most honorable and successful way, and he has 
his reward in the prosperity of the Salem Church. 

You have done well in arranging for this com- 
memorative observance. I should be pleased to be 
with you on this interesting occasion ; but as this will 
be impossible, I take this method of extending to 
Brother Mackenzie and the Salem Church, of which 
he has been the honored pastor for this long period, 
my most cordial congratulations. 

49 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

I hope to see the full account of the exercises of 
this anniversary in the report of the proceedings. 
Very truly yours, 

Richard H. Steele. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

Rev. John R. Fisher was at one time pastor over 
the Hebron congregation, where Mr. McEachron 
is now. His letter shows he has not forgotten 
former times, any more than we have ceased to 
remember how pleased we Salem people were 
whenever " Mr. Fisher was to preach :" 

31 Bible House, New York. 
October 24, 1896. 
Mr. David H. Safford, 
Miss Jennie McFarland, 
Miss F. H. Williams, 
Mr. John King, 

Committee on Invitations. 

Dear Friends — I thank you for the kind invitation 
to be present at the celebration of the twenty-fifth 
anniversary of the settlement of the Rev. William A. 
Mackenzie as pastor of the " Old White Church." I 
am extremely sorry that the pressure of previous en- 
gagements will prevent my being with you. 
50 



U, P, CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

It would be an occasion of rare interest to me, 
associated as I was, in such close and personal ways 
with both pastor and people. The reminiscent mood 
in which this correspondence finds me awakens 
emotions of mingled joy and sadness. How well I re- 
call the charming home of the young minister, and 
the bright outlook that inspired his consecrated, en- 
thusiastic early efforts ; and the dignified and noble 
men and women who welcomed and encouraged him. 

And well do I remember the dark days that came 
to that home, with the discipline of great sorrow, and 
the setting of the minister's heart and life in holier 
relations to that important part of his work which 
leads hard by " the valley of the shadow of Death." 

And as I call, mentally, the roll of those grand 
men and women who shaped the fortunes of the " Old 
Church," there is an ominous silence, which assures 
me that, with the most of them, the toil is over, and 
the crown won. 

While, therefore, the earthly side of my heart 
might seem to throw a tinge of sadness into these 
congratulations, remembering the delightful fact that 
the Church of God is one, whether on earth or in 
heaven, I join most heartily in the Doxology you are 
singing, for what has been accomplished, during a 
quarter of a century, in the development and corona- 
tion of Christian character. 
51 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR, 

Solomon said truly, " One generation passeth away 
and another generation cometh;" but he grew 
pessimistic when he added a little after, " There is no 
new thing under the sun," for a wiser than he declared, 
" Behold I make all things NEW." Yours has been 
to share in this magnificent work, some of which, 
being finished, has been accepted by the Master with 
the heavenly commendation " well done." 

I rejoice in the intelligence that the condition of the 
pastor's health is greatly improved. May his be the 
blessed privilege of preaching the gospel of the grace 
of God yet many, many years. 

As the ripened fruit is better than the blossom, so 
may the last days of the " Old White Church" be its 
best days. 

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, 
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in 
the Lord. 

Fraternally and cordially yours, 

J. R. Fisher. 

^ ^ ^ t 

Following it are a few written words from Rev. 
Thos. W. Anderson, D.D., peculiarly gratifying to us 
Salemites, because, although settled in the Presbytery 

52 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

of New York, he is so well known and liked in the 
Presbytery of Argyle. Hebron claims kinship with 
him too, from early relationships. One of our elders 
was accused of dancing for joy when he heard that 
" Tommy was coming." This hope was disappointed. 
But since he could not come, he sent this message : 

Many thanks for the kind invitation to be present 
at the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
Brother Mackenzie's pastorate. I regret that it will 
be impossible for me to be present. 

Please extend my hearty congratulations to Brother 
Mackenzie and his noble people. May the remem- 
brance of God's goodness and faithfulness be an 
inspiration to you all, and a pledge of future pros- 
perity. May the place be transformed into a mount, 
and His people witness the glory of Jesus Christ. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

The writer whose signature is appended below 
was settled in Cambridge, N. Y., till recently, 
when the call of God came to him from Johnstown, 
Pa. That church, which so narrowly escaped 
being swept away by flood, is being "brought out 
into a wealthy place." Mr. Kyle's name is a 
synonym for energy and indefatigable zeal: 
53 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR, 

Mr. David H. Safford, Chairman of Committee. 

Dear Brother — The invitation from your com- 
mittee to attend the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
settlement of your pastor, Rev. W. A. Mackenzie, 
is before me. I appreciate the courtesy thus ex- 
tended to me, and do assure you that if it were 
possible I should be present this day and partici- 
pate in the exercises relative to the occasion. 
Nothing would please me better. I have a high 
regard for the people of the Salem congregation ; 
and while in your bounds it was always a pleasure 
to fellowship with you, and not only so, but I have 
had comfort and pleasure in preaching to you the 
gospel of Christ. There was that response on your 
part which always inspires and encourages a mes- 
senger of the Truth. 

During my labors at Cambridge I was a fre- 
quent visitor to Salem, and I always had a wel- 
come at the parsonage. Many happy hours have 
I spent in company with your pastor and his family. 
It was exceedingly helpful to me to converse on 
the work of the Church with a man of God — one 
in whom you can place the utmost confidence, and 
on whose judgment you can rely. 

For twenty-five years you have had one under- 
shepherd, one spiritual adviser ; and for twenty- 
five years one servant of God has ministered to 

54 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

the same congregation. Such terms of co-operation 
in the Master's vineyard are comparatively few. 
It is fitting therefore that you should pause here 
and celebrate. 

A more successful pastorate is not known in 
the bounds of our Church than the one which you 
this day review. My prayer is that Brother 
Mackenzie may be fully recovered to health and 
permitted to preach the gospel in your midst for 
many years to come, and may the Spirit of God 
abide with you in wondrous power. 

May temporal prosperity come to you in such 
abundance, that you can arise and build a new 
House for the Lord during Brother Mackenzie's 
sojourn among you. May this day bring a season 
of refreshing to pastor and congregation, and to 
all who are this day assembled within these walls, 
is the desire of your humble servant, 

S. J. Kyle. 
Johnstown, Pa., October 24, 1896. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

The communication next read, being from one 
of the seven (or eight) young men who, during 
the quarter century, have received an impulse 
towards the gospel ministry and have been helped 

55 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

to carry it out, was hearkened to with especial 
interest. It was written by Rev. G. Hale Getty, 
New Wilmington, Pa. Although not in active serv- 
ice at present, owing to broken health, he still 
holds to the hope that the time may come when 
he may engage again in the sacred calling: 

I desire to acknowledge your kind invitation 
to attend the exercises in connection with Mr. 
Mackenzie's quarter-centennial pastorate and to 
thank you for the same. It would give me great 
pleasure to attend these services, but circumstances 
make it impossible. 

I desire, however, to extend my congratulations 
to both pastor and people upon this happy oc- 
casion. I congratulate the congregation in that 
they have had a teacher, who has taught them 
the great lessons of life, as he has received them 
from the Master himself, and who has relied upon 
the plain and simple word for success, unem- 
bellished by modern sensationalism, and who has 
enforced his teachings by a pastoral work which 
has been kind and sympathizing in its nature, and 
which has revealed a man with a generous heart 
and a most approachable disposition. I congratu- 
late the pastor that he has had a kind and faith- 
ful people, ever ready to second his efforts in all 
56 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. Y. 

good works, and to uphold him in the trying and 
arduous duties of a modern pastorate. 

It seems to me that when these elements are 
blended, that it means a successful and happy 
pastorate, be it few or many years. In your ex- 
perience, as a pastor and people, there seems to 
be a happy blending of these principles. My hope 
and prayer is that this pastorate may continue, and 
if it is the Father's will, that the quarter-centennial 
may glide into the semi-centennial, and that much 
good may result in the future, as in the past, to 
the glory of our common Father and His dear 
Son, our blessed Lord and Saviour, 

(Signed) G. H. Getty. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

The career of Albert Todd was more fortunate. 
His long residence in Salem, his connection with 
our congregation, Sabbath School and Young 
People's meeting, almost caused us to forget that 
his birth-place was North Argyle. Now, pastor of 
the Bethany Congregational Church, he sent the 
letter printed here : 

Worcester, Mass., October 22, 1896. 
Dear Mr. King. 

Your communication of the 17th instant is re- 

57 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

ceived. I thank you for the kind remembrance, 
and regret very much that it will be impossible 
for me to attend the anniversary exercises. Allow 
me to add that I consider myself fortunate indeed 
in having been privileged to sit under the faith- 
ful preaching of Mr. Mackenzie for nearly six 
years, and that at the most impressionable period 
of my life. I remember also, with deep gratitude, 
the keen interest which he manifested in the 
temporal and spiritual welfare of the young people 
of his Church and congregation, and how he freely 
gave of his time and strength in order that we 
might be helped to a higher plane of thinking 
and living. Personally, I owe Mr. Mackenzie a 
debt of gratitude which I can never repay ; for 
what I am, and whatever I have done for others, 
is due, by the grace of God, in no small degree, 
to his wise counsel, brotherly interest, and earnest 
prayers. 

Wishing for all concerned, a most enjoyable 
occasion, I remain very sincerely yours, 

Albert G. Todd. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

The last epistle read that day was from Rev. 
Herbert C. Hinds, who, though not strictly a native 
of Salem, was a child of the Church here by 

58 



U, p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. Y. 

confession and baptism. In Troy he ministers now 
to a flourishing congregation. He tells his own 
story best ; we commend it to your perusal : 

Troy, N. Y., October 27, 1896. 
To THE Pastor, Session and Congregation of 

THE United Presbyterian Church, Salem, 

New York. 

My Dear Brethren — I regret that an important 
meeting at the Ninth Presbyterian Church, Troy, 
prevents me from participating in the speech-making 
and speech-hearing in honor of the completion of 
your twenty-five years of earnest and loyal service 
as pastor and people. Though absent in body, I am 
pleased, through the kindness of your committee, to 
avail myself of the use of a living voice with which 
to convey my sincere greetings, hearty endorsement, 
and best wishes. And I wish that it was possible for 
me to express, in fitting words, all that is in my heart 
to say to you on this important occasion. But " speech 
is silver and silence is golden." I know that others, 
who are better qualified to speak than am I, will give 
expression in the most earnest manner to the con- 
fidence and affection in which you are held in the 
" village of peace," and the high value which has 
always been placed upon your work as the servants 
of our common Lord and Master. In these days of 

59 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR, 

shifting pastorates, it is refreshing to find one so 
enduring, and, in its steadfastness, so blessed as yours 
has been. The "Old White Church" is not accus- 
tomed to changing its ministers. Its people are not 
afflicted with itching ears, or discredited by fickle 
hearts. The pastor has been efficient in service and 
worthy of confidence, which has been given without 
reserve, and your support of him has been unwaver- 
ingly loyal, and the only change noticed in your affec- 
tion is that it has been " from strength to strength." 
The people of the White Church know good sound 
timber when they see it, and they were not long in 
discovering that their pastor was one "of the proper 
material," and his successful ministry of twenty-five 
years has proved the wisdom of your choice. You 
have grappled him to your souls with more than 
" hooks of steel." It is to be noticed that there has 
been growth in your devotion, and it is commendable 
that you have advanced him, " who is among you 
as one that serveth," from the suburbs of your 
affection, where you met him as a stranger, to the 
innermost recesses of your appreciation, love, and 
trust. 

" Blest be the tie that binds 

Your hearts in Christian love : 
The fellowship of kindred minds 
Is like to that above." 

60 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

It was in 1871 that Mr. Mackenzie became your 
pastor; and it was in March, 1874, that he became 
my under-shepherd, and, for several years, he led me, 
as well as you, " in the green pastures and beside the 
still waters," and to-day we look back with pleasure 
and profit upon the hours we spent in the courts of 
the Lord's house ; though now, " sundered far, by 
faith we meet around one common mercy-seat." I am 
glad to testify to the helpful discourses it was my 
privilege to hear on the Sabbath, and I can now see 
the strong frame of the preacher tremble under the 
strain of his earnest delivery. He spoke with anima- 
tion, as though he was an earnest believer in the truth 
he presented ; and he made me say very frequently, 
" I must be about my Father's business." In the 
hands of Mr. Mackenzie, our beloved pastor (for I 
never knew any other), God's Word was as a sower 
going forth to sow ; and now, in the eventide of his 
labors, I know he will bring back the sheaves of joy. 
The discourses always palpitated with deity and the 
glory of the Son of God, and were delivered with 
unction. To him Christianity was not a picture to be 
gazed upon, but it was the fire of the Lord, the sword 
of the Spirit, and a cry that awakened another cry. 
And I am thankful that it was my privilege to sit 
under the solemn calls to duty and stern admonitions 
to seek the best things. 

61 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

And now we have reached that period of the year 
when the work of the sower has wrought its glorious 
purpose and the labor of the reaper has been exacted. 
The first green promise of the spring has changed to 
the glory of the harvest-time, and the song of the 
reaper will be heard in our midst till the granaries 
shall be filled with the golden treasures of earth's 
harvest fields. There is no law in the natural world 
that does not find its correspondence in the spiritual. 
We are the reapers in the fields of time. " One 
soweth and another reapeth ; " and much that you 
have sown during the past twenty-five years will not 
be sufficiently mature for your reaping, but other 
hands will gather in the sheaves of joy. Your sowing 
will make the harvest fields of the future glorious 
indeed. The gathering of the grain for the Lord's 
treasure-house has always been abundant, but the 
future harvests which you shall be permitted to gather 
we trust will be as bountiful as the thought of God 
and sufficiently rich to meet your every need. We 
are in a grand procession of those who have reaped 
where others have sowed, in pain and sorrow, in 
prayer and tears, and, though the autumn of life is 
approaching, let us continue to be sowers till " break 
of day." The future harvests of the world wait on 
our sowing. Here in our midst are the children and 
the children's children ; and shall we not see to it 
62 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. Y. 

that the fields they tread shall be richer in blessing 
than even those have been through which we have 
wandered ? How careful we should continue to be 
in scattering broadcast the best seed, and do it with 
a liberal hand and prayerful heart, remembering that 
he that goeth forth weeping, sowing precious seed, 
shall be sure of a glorious harvest. 

Commending you to the guidance of Him who 
never errs, and praying that it may be His will that 
you may long remain a united people, zealous of good 
works, I remain. 

Faithfully and cordially, your friend, 

Herbert C. Hinds. 

^ ^ t t 

Although the two which remain were not re- 
ceived until after Tuesday, they are inserted be- 
cause the first is from Rev. Dr. Forsythe, who 
was pastor cf the White Church for twelve years, 
from 1858, almost immediately preceding Mr. Mac- 
kenzie. He wrote: 

Montgomery, N. Y., October 25, 1896. 
Deacon David Safford. 

Dear Friend— I regret deeply that slow con- 
valescence from a protracted illness will prevent 
63 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

me from being present on the important and 
memorable occasion. It is but seldom in a life- 
time that one is permitted to attend the anniver- 
sary of a pastor's settlement which has continued 
in peace and prosperity for twenty-five years. 
Such a record speaks volumes in praise both of 
pastor and people, which they may well celebrate, 
and of which you may both justly be proud. A 
hundred years may pass before it will be repeated. 

There are many special reasons why I would 
be glad to be with you at this anniversary, des- 
tined to become historic. 

The Old White Church was my second and 
longest pastorate, except my present charge. The 
service which I rendered there for twelve years, 
the Master has been pleased to accept and bless to 
some extent in the up-building of His Kingdom. 
In the parsonage of your Church all my children 
were born, and in your beautiful Evergreen 
Cemetery, with sad hearts we laid them away, 
where these many years they have peacefully 
slept, awaiting life's brighter coming day. And 
when life's day's work is ended, my wife and I 
expected to be laid by their side to sleep time's 
dreamless sleep. 

Please convey to your pastor my hearty con- 
gratulations on his being permitted to reach and 
64 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. Y. 

and enjoy this auspicious day; impart my kindest 
greeting to all the members of the Old White 
Church, and accept, for yourself and the members 
of your family, the love of your former pastor 
and ever friend. Sincerely, 

James C. Forsythe. 

$" t t t 

The other is from " Charlie White," whom we 
old people of the congregation recall as a child 
when our pastor was installed. We remember 
him, a little boy of five or thereabouts, as he 
used to stand on the pew, holding on to his father, 
while the congregation were passing out. The 
family physician frequently related that, after 
Charlie went home, he was accustomed to " play 
church," and repeat the sermon to his grandmother ; 
so, when he grew up, he became a preacher in 
earnest : 

Hebron, N. Y., October 27, 1896. 
Mr. John King. 

Dear Sir — It is with sincere regret that I am 
forced to inform you that I cannot be present at 
Mr. Mackenzie's anniversary to-day. I am sud- 
denly called away in another direction, and in all 
probability cannot reach Salem in time to attend 
the afternoon service. 

65 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

Permit me to extend to Mr. Mackenzie the 
greetings and congratulations of one of the grown- 
up children of his congregation, who cheerfully 
acknowledges his indebtedness to him, as to a faith- 
ful under-shepherd, who ever cared tenderly for 
the lambs of the fold. Let me congratulate the 
congregation also on the high privileges which they 
have enjoyed for a quarter of a century, in re- 
taining the services of one so gifted as a minister 
of Christ. That this relation between pastor and 
people may long continue, is my earnest and 
heartfelt desire. Expressing once again my regret 
in being compelled to decline your cordial invita- 
tion, and thanking you for the same, I am 

fraternally yours, 

Chas. T. White. 

^ ^ 4^ ^ 

The ministers, old and young, having had their 
say, it was time for the laymen to come into 
notice ; beginning with the officers of the Church. 
Elder Robert Stewart, Clerk of the Session, read 
this laboriously prepared statement : 

At the beginning of this pastorate there was a 

membership of two hundred and five (205), to 

which there has been added four hundred and 

forty-two (442), making a total enrollment of six 

66 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

hundred and forty-seven (647). Of this number 
there has been certified one hundred and thirteen 
(113), who have connected with other churches, 
in various parts of the country, thus transferring 
the seed to other soil, where it is no doubt 
bearing fruit to the glory of God. One hundred 
and forty-five (145) have died; sixteen (16) have 
been dropped from the roll by action of Session, 
and sixty-seven (67) have gone from our bounds 
without taking certificates, leaving us, at present, an 
enrollment of three hundred and six (306), of whom 
there are with us, in active membership, two hundred 
and eighty-seven (287); the remaining number, though 
not with us permanently, are here occasionally. 

Of those who have been associated with us, seven 
{7) are in the ministry. Of those received into the 
membership of the Church, three hundred and forty- 
two (342) have been received by examination and 
profession of their faith in Christ, ninety-nine (99) by 
certificate, and one (i) by being reinstated. 

Of those who composed the Session, at the begin- 
ning of this pastorate, none remain, teaching us 
emphatically that we shall all pass away, and that 
the places which know us now will soon know us no 
more again forever. How important that we should 
be up and doing while the day lasts and before the 
night come. On March 4, 1876, William Chamberlin 
67 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

and Robert Stewart were ordained and installed 
elders, the former of whom died January 23, 1890. 
On June 6, 1885, James G. Gillis, David H. Safford, 
and Peter H. Cruikshank were ordained and installed 
elders, who, with the speaker, compose the member- 
ship of the Session at the present time. I cannot 
refrain from saying, of those of whom the Session is 
now composed, that, though we sometimes differ in 
opinion, yet there is a good, fraternal feeling and 
spirit of harmony prevailing among us, both the 
pastor and the elders, and a common desire to pro- 
mote the best interests of this Church and congre- 
gation. 

There is a Woman's Missionary Society in con- 
nection with our congregation, also a Junior Mission- 
ary Society, each doing efficient work in their respect- 
ive spheres. There is a Sabbath School, composed 
of two hundred and thirty (230) scholars, with seven 
(7) officers and nineteen (19) teachers, which has been 
an avenue to the membership of the Church. The 
society, known as our " Young People's Christian 
Union " — which, it is claimed, was the first of its kind 
organized and in operation in the United Presbyterian 
Church — has been conducted and carried on success- 
fully, since its formation, in March, 1874, until the 
present time, and has never once failed to have a 
weekly meeting in all the time it has existed. This 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

organization has proved a training school for efficiency 
and activity in Church work. 

While we have had yearly accessions to the 
Church, there have been seasons of special refresh- 
ing and outpouring of the Holy Spirit, when greater 
numbers have been added. For instance : in the 
winter and spring of 1874, there was an addition of 
forty (40); in the winter and spring of 1877, twenty- 
eight (28); in June, 1881, sixteen (16); during the 
year 1886, thirty-four (34) ; during the year 1887, 
twenty-two (22) ; in the winter and spring of 1889, 
twenty-nine (29) ; during the year 1895, forty-three 
(43). There has been a total of adult baptisms of 
one hundred and nineteen (119). Many of those 
received into the Church have been persons in middle 
life ; and there have also been many in the morning 
of life, some of whom were quite young : and such 
have generally proved faithful, and have grown up 
active members of the Church. There have been 
one hundred and twenty-nine (129) infant baptisms. 

During these years there has been a weekly 
prayer-meeting conducted. Almost without excep- 
tion, church service has been held on the Sabbath ; 
communion has been dispensed quarterly ; spiritual 
life has been quickened; the cause of temperance 
has been advanced ; Christian beneficence has been 
increased, and made more systematic; peace and 
69 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

harmony have prevailed throughout the congre- 
gation. 

And now, brethren of the Session and congrega- 
tion, let us unite in saying, " Not unto us, O Lord, not 
unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy 
mercy, and for Thy truth's sake." 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

The Trustees, who have the business affairs in 
trust, were pleased to have the Treasurer report for 
them. Succinct and to the point, his statement might 
be termed "Multum in Parvo." How came it that 
there was so much money raised, do you ask ? Wait 
till later in the afternoon, when you have heard what 
Chas. H. Wilson has to say on that point. Mean- 
while let us read these figures : 

As Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of this con- 
gregation, I wish to present the following statement. 
This Church has contributed during the pastorate of 
Rev. William A. Mackenzie the following amounts : 

Benevolent Purposes, $23,616.00 
Minister's Salary, 37,500.00 

Church Expenses, 23,291.00 

Sabbath School, 6,936.00 

Total, $91,343.00 
Respectfully, 

Wm. McFarland, 
Salem. N. Y., Oct. 27, 1896. Treasurer. 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

In addition to the first named amount given to 
benevolent purposes, there should be counted in 
$4,000 of that which was contributed by the Sab- 
bath School, making the sum of $27,616.00. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

The exercises now took another turn. Dr. Ed- 
ward P. Sprague, pastor of the First Presbyterians, 
bore the greeting from the sister churches of 
the village. Unlike the ancient "Salem," which 
had but the one Temple on Mt. Zion, there are 
five sanctuaries within our gates. Heartily was the 
four-fold welcome given through the aforesaid 
channel : 

I count myself happy, friends, members of this 
venerable Church, and you, my dear brother in the 
pastorate, that I am permitted to express to you 
the sincere Christian greetings and congratulations 
of the sister churches in this our fair village. We 
bear, each of us, separate and distinctive titles, as 
men name us; yet we are not so many dififerent 
churches here, but parts only of that one great 
Church, which includes all those throughout all the 
world who confess and serve our one head, the 
blessed Lord Jesus Christ. We count you one with 
us, as you also count us one with yourselves, all of 
71 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

us members in that one family named in His 
name, on earth and in heaven, fellow-soldiers and 
servants in that great army and that innumerable 
multitude, "part of whom have crossed the flood, 
and part are crossing now." As such we extend 
to you all our cordial, loving greetings on this 
happy anniversary day. 

But first of all I must be permitted, my dear 
brother, a personal word to yourself, one spring- 
ing from our own prolonged personal relations. 
I go back in thought of yourself, my brother, 
farther even than any of those who have already 
spoken. My first meeting you was on that sum- 
mer Sunday when you first spoke from this pulpit. 
On that Sunday afternoon, for the second service 
in this Church was then held in the afternoon, I 
was permitted to be one of those who heard you 
preach ; and I still remember the words I spoke 
to you in yonder vestibule after the service : " I 
have of course nothing to say in the matter, and 
may not even seem to intrude ; but, for myself, I 
hope this Church will give you a call, and if they 
do I shall welcome you here most cordially." 

The Church did call you, my brother, and you 
decided to come. Then followed those delightful 
ten years of fraternal fellowship and co-operation, 
years which I never forgot during my pastorates 

72 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

elsewhere, and years, too, in which there was never 
a difiference, a disagreement, or a jealousy between 
us. Memories of those years come trooping back 
to me as I speak, and I might dwell on them 
long, on the conferences together, the Sunday 
evenings of the " union services," and still more 
the other evenings of mid-week services when, in 
that season of blessed refreshment and revival, 
you sat with me before my pulpit, or I in turn 
sat with you before this pulpit here, and we were 
rejoiced in together striving to lead souls to faith 
and peace in the Divine Saviour, your Master and 
mine. Well also do I recall your parting words 
to me, when I left for another field of labor, and 
in bidding me good-bye, a veritable God be with 
you, you added also your cordial, " Come back 
again, Sprague." 

And then when a year and a half ago this my 
old Church here asked me, and I decided to 
return to them again, one of the pleasantest 
thoughts, and one that helped me to my decision, 
was that whatever changes might have occurred 
in the dozen years, and they were many, and 
whatever faces of old friends and true I should 
miss, and I do miss many, I should yet find you, 
my friend and brother, here still in this same 
pastorate, and that we would resume the delight- 
73 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

ful fellow labor and union services as of yore. 
Nor in this have I at all been disappointed. 

It is however to you, who constitute this Church 
and congregation, and from your sister churches I 
am especially to bring the greetings this afternoon. 
Such greetings I do voice most heartily and warmly 
myself, and yet no whit more heartily and warmly 
than they are felt by all those for whom I speak. 

I bring you greetings therefore, first of all, be- 
loved, because this pulpit of your Church has 
ever stood in the person of your pastor for the 
simple, pure, all powerful, ever blessed gospel of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. Never has your pastor 
been tempted to substitute anything else for this 
gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. 
Never has he suffered anything else to turn him 
aside from this, or to take the place of this in 
his Sunday ministrations from this pulpit. Never 
has he consented to try to please itching ears, 
which craved something novel and strange, but 
ever has he sought in all fidelity and Godly 
sincerity to win wayward, sinful souls to humble, 
penitent faith in the one and only Saviour of us all. 
And so your sister churches have rejoiced for you, 
and with you, during all these years in the earnest 
faithful preaching to which you have been per- 
mitted to listen. 

74 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

I bring you greetings also, brethren, because 
this Church in the person of its pastor has always 
stood for the broadest Christian recognition and 
fellowship. He has never felt, nor have you, that 
you were in any preeminent sense the true Church 
of Christ on the earth. He has honored and 
loved all these our other churches here. They have 
been dear to his heart, second only to yourselves ; 
and he has rejoiced in their prosperity and in 
every success to which any of them might at- 
tain. There have been no rivalries between us, 
save that noble Christian rivalry which might 
most serve the common Lord, and most help 
needy, sinful men. You have not been jealous of 
us, nor we envious of you, for we knew full well 
that he sought to build up this Church, never 
by drawing from other congregations, but ever 
by seeking to win souls from the world to Christ. 

I bring you greetings again, beloved, because 
the pulpit of this your Church has ever stood, in 
the person of your pastor, for all good and right 
things in the community and among men, for 
truth and honesty, for righteousness and justice and 
temperance, for good order, good citizenship and 
good government in the community and the land. 
He has felt that however much the gospel was 
intended to prepare men's souls for heaven, it has 
75 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

much to do also with men's lives here on the 
earth. The kingdom of God means the rule of 
God Himself in all the world, in home life, in 
society, in business, in politics as well as in the 
Church. That kingdom does not come in its full- 
ness and power in any community except as 
men's bodies are made healthier, their homes 
happier, their communities more safe and quiet 
and orderly, thanks to the presence and power of 
the Church. And we have rejoiced in all the 
noble efforts of your pastor to aid in securing this 
divinely appointed end, as we have seen that he did 
believe that Godliness hath the promise of the life 
that now is, as well as of that which is to come. 

Have we not therefore, looking back over all 
these years, good and ample reason to extend to you 
our warmest greetings, as sister churches to this 
owned and honored sister among us all ? 

As I stand here in this pulpit to-day, where I 
have so often stood with you, my brother, in these 
years passed, it seems to me almost as if I could 
still see many of the faces I used to look into, as 
well as many I used to meet on the streets of our 
village, during those days now beyond recall. I 
speak to you for those still among us, and who 
make up these churches to-day, and yet I cannot 
forget all these others, one with us in faith and 
76 



I 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

love, if no longer in bodily presence. Some of 
them have removed from ours to other churches 
in other places, where they still trust in and serve 
the same Lord with ourselves ; but many more by 
far have passed from earth, passed we believe 
to that blessed home and heaven above, where 
they behold His face, and transformed into His 
likeness serve Him better day and night in His 
temple. Who knows but, if our eyes were opened 
unto spiritual sight, we might now, looking up over- 
head, see their faces also looking down upon us, 
rejoicing in this our joy to-day ? Long is the list 
of such absent, or departed ones, of whom I might 
make fitting mention, office bearers or members of 
this your Church or of mine, or fellow laborers 
with us here in the toils, solicitudes and happinesses 
of the pastorate. You, my brother, will have them 
also in mind, such as dear, beloved, honored Rev. 
Father H. M. Davis (as we used to call him), of 
St. Paul's, who here finished his course with praise, 
and hath entered, we know, into the rest of the 
blessed immortality with Christ; genial, cordial, 
happy Brother J. W. Thompson, of the M. E. 
Church, whose voice is still heard as strong as 
ever in the pulpits of a neighboring city, and the 
revered Dr. A. B. Lambert, my predecessor in the 
pastorate of my church, who, although not in aC' 
77 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

tive duties here within your time, so loved this 
peaceful valley, that he gladly returned here to 
spend his last remaining earthly years, and was 
as gladly received by all, so that it became your 
privilege to minister to him then ; all these, and 
many others, you and I have in mind to-day. We 
do not forget them, as we trust they do not forget 
us, whether far away on earth, or farther, no. 
nearer by, on the heights of glory. And God 
grant that we may so finish our days in fellowship 
with them, and with all the saints, and so far follow- 
ing in their footsteps as they followed Christ, that 
we in turn may be added with them to the innumer- 
able number of that great multitude who have 
confessed the Lord on the earth, and shall enter 
with Him into His kingdom. 

And now, dear friends, neighbors, and fellow 
Christians in this our sister Church, there is only 
one word more I wish to add to-day. 

I know not, as you know not, what His will 
may be ; and His will is always the wisest and 
best, and His will, and that alone, be done — His 
will who so truly does watch over His Churches, 
and over His ministering servants, and rule and 
order in their lives. I know not what His will 
may be, but I do pray and that earnestly, that if 
it can be His holy will, this pastorate, which has 

78 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. K 

been continued so long, may be continued for 
many years yet to come, and that you, my 
brother pastor and people, may go in and out to- 
gether, and come here together to worship God 
in future days as for so long in the past. If it 
can be His will may God grant this to you and 
to your prayers. But yet more, whether this may 
be, or not, God grant, that which may be, that you, 
and he, and I, and mine, not one of us, or of ours 
left out, may at last meet and stand together in 
the presence of the crucified and ascended Christ, 
in whom we have believed, and before His face 
who is God over all, blessed forever ; and then 
when from the blessed heights of the paradise of 
God we look back upon all the way He has led 
us, all He has sent us to do or to bear, and all 
He has enabled us to accomplish, will we say 
again, what we have said so often to-day, only 
better then and with profounder meaning, "Not 
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Thy great 
name be all the glory, for Thy mercy, and for 
Thy truth's sake, henceforth, and forever more." 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

This elicited a response from Mr. Mackenzie, 
which is here reproduced from memory, as nearly 
as possible. 

79 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

You will please allow me a word, Mr. Chair- 
man, in response to the kind words which have 
just been spoken by the representative of the pas- 
tors of the village. I wish in this public way to ex- 
press my appreciation of the words just spoken, and 
the sentiments of esteem and confidence which they 
convey. I found you here, my brother, when I 
came to take charge of this Church, and although 
absent for a time, I am glad to find you here to- 
day in your old position. The relations between 
the churches of this village through all these years 
have been the most pleasant. As brethren, we 
have sought to dwell together in unity, and I think 
that we have succeeded in no small degree. We 
have worked together for the best interests of the 
community in which our lot has been cast. Per- 
haps one reason why I have recollected so well the 
admonition of Brother Wiley, is the fact that we 
have in this village had so many conflicts with the 
cask. Once it was literally emptied, but in some 
way it has been filled again to our sorrow and to 
the great disadvantage of our beautiful village. I 
hope that by our united effort, backed by the 
effort of those whom we represent, the cask may 
soon again be emptied, never again to be filled in 
our midst. I shall ever have the most agreeable 
recollections of the pleasure and helpfulness of my 
80 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

association with the pastors of the village, as also 
with their congregations. In most of them I have 
been in times of sickness and death, seeking as I 
was able to administer the consolation of the gos- 
pel. At times it seemed almost as though I was 
pastor of all these churches. I do not know that 
there is one of your homes into which I could not 
go and be welcome. All this is a pleasant re- 
flection to-day, and my heart's desire and prayer 
is that heaven's benediction may rest on you all. 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

Not satisfied, although another had given expres- 
sion to his sentiments, Rev. Mr. Morhouse, of the 
M. E. Church, "junior" pastor of the community, in 
the sense that his residence among us has been for 
the shortest period, when the call was made for 
impromptu addresses, uttered the following pleasant 
thoughts : 

I would not, by my silence on this occasion, convey 
the impression that I am indifferent to the associa- 
tions and circumstances of the hour. 

I assure you I esteem it a great privilege to be 
here, touched by the spirit and impressed with the 
utterances heard to-day. 

I congratulate all on the good fortune that has 
8i 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

been yours as pastor and people through these years. 
As I came to this place, last May, my acquaintance 
with Mr. Mackenzie has been brief; but I have 
already come to highly appreciate him as a man of 
sterling Christian character and a minister of many 
excellencies. My impression, on first meeting him, 
was not like that expressed by some of the speakers 
of the morning. I found him dignified and appar- 
ently reserved, but have seen beneath that reserved 
exterior a true heart of brotherly kindness. 

I congratulate you as a people on your charac- 
teristics, and especially on the qualities manifested 
by your ministers. 

This is the first United Presbyterian Church it 
has been my good fortune to find in any place where 
it has been my lot to be stationed. I heard, before 
I came here, that they were a people of excellent 
traits, conscientious, staunch, and true. And I am 
glad to be able to say, according to my observation, 
so far you have sustained your reputation. 

Although I have not been privileged to hear your 
pastor preach since coming among you, I have had 
the opportunity of listening to some of your young 
men, and have been delighted with the evangelistic 
spirit and scriptural tone of their sermons. 

I congratulate you that your ministers preach the 
pure gospel of the Son of God with such efficiency. 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. Y. 

I am so impressed with the quaHties of your pas- 
tor, who has been with you so long, that I devoutly 
pray for his restoration to health, for I would like 
much his assistance as co-laborer in moral and Chris- 
tian work with other ministers of this place. 

¥" t t t 

Then arose Dr. H. L. Singleton. How familiar was 
his soft Southern speech ! For some four years ago, 
when Mr. Mackenzie, forbidden to preach, sought a 
" supply," we sat under his teachings and benefited 
by his ministrations. His reminiscences of that time 
were, in substance, as follows : 

My tribute to your pastor proceeds from a stand- 
point somewhat apart from that occupied by those 
who have spoken. For seven months, during my 
occupancy of his pulpit, I was the guest of his home. 
In the intimacy and freedom of our association there, 
many qualities of mind and heart were revealed, 
which I would not elsewhere have discovered. At 
its conclusion I realized that I had enjoyed a com- 
panionship from which my intellectual and spiritual 
nature had become stimulated and enriched. I 
learned to appreciate the accuracy of his informa- 
tion, the soundness of his conclusions, the wisdom of 
his conduct, the firmness of his faith. That domestic 
83 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

association has been a help to me in the ministry of 
life and of the Word. 

Your cards of invitation read, " The Twenty-fifth 
Anniversary of the Pastorate of Rev. William A. 
Mackenzie." I would call this his silver wedding 
with the White Church ; but you might infer that I 
am on the Silver side of this Presidential campaign. 
Yet the ladies of the Church — with none of my 
timidity — have placed on the pulpit that vase of 
yellow and white chrysanthemums ; quite suggestive 
of our national coins. I have not counted the beau- 
tiful blooms, so as to know whether they approve of 
the sixteen-to-one ratio. I think, however, the white 
is the predominant color. That is quite right for the 
White Church — the Bride of Christ — on such an 
occasion as this. 

" The Pastorate." I like the term " pastor " best 
of all the designations of the ministry. 

" Minister" means a servant. Many troubles have 
disturbed the church, and dissolved the pastorate, 
from the notion that the pastor is the servant of the 
church. I once received a letter from Rev. Dr. 
William S. Plumer with this postscript : " P. S. — My 
young brother, be a good servant of tfce Lord Jesus 
Christ, but don't be a slave to your people." 

" Domine " — the term our Dutch Reformed breth- 
ren apply to the minister — means Lord. I do not 
84 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

like that ; neither did Peter. He wrote : " Being not 
lords over God's heritage." 

" Bishop " I do not like. It savors of prelacy and 
monarchy. Our Presbyterian ancestry suffered too 
much from the mitered bishop for the term to become 
popular in our household. 

" Pastor " is shepherd. It is God's ideal, and God's 
name, for the relationship. 

It is a rural term. God began the world and the 
history of man with rural life. He laid out a farm, 
and made Adam a farmer and shepherd. If Eve 
had been content to live on the farm, and with the 
fleece of one flock, we might have been spared the 
wilderness of sin and its sad experiences. 

God called Himself the Shepherd of His people, 
to express the fullness, the completeness, the ten- 
derness of His relation to them. 

Those whom He appointed to lead His people, 
with whom He made the covenants of Promise, 
were shepherds. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He 
appointed Moses, at the Burning Bush, the shep- 
herd of Israel, as he was leading his flock back 
from pasture. He anointed a shepherd boy to be 
the great King of Israel, and he gave us the 
Shepherd Psalm. 

God's richest prophecy and sweetest promise of 
the Messiah were: "He shall feed His flock like a 
85 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

shepherd ; He shall gather the lambs with His 
arms and carry them in His bosom, and shall 
gently lead those that are with young." When He 
came, He said : " I am the good shepherd and 
know my sheep and am known of mine;" and 
thus Peter writes : " And when the chief shep- 
herd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of 
glory that shall not fade away." 

Twenty-five years a pastor, a shepherd over a 
Church like this ! 'Tis an honorable service, a 
noble record, a blessed ministry. This Church 
was first taken by its pastor from the ecclesiastical 
wolves that would have devoured it. He brought 
it across the perilous sea. He selected this lovely 
valley and located the flock amid these hills and 
by your living streams. It has had faithful shep- 
herds by whom the succeeding generations have 
been tended. 

The last quarter of a century you have had the 
last but not the least of the shepherds. 

He has fed you with the pure food of the 
gospel. He has sought the lost sheep ; he has 
restored the wandering ; he has strengthened the 
weak ; he has confirmed your faith, animated your 
hope. 

He has been your shepherd in your homes, as 
well as in this sanctuary. Every shepherd knows 
86 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

how the sheep love to feel the shepherd's hand. 
An old Scotch elder, from the " Highlands," com- 
plained of his pastor for not visiting the people. 
I excused him on the ground of his many duties, 
when he replied: "But, Meenister, the sheep like 
to feed from the shepherd's hand." There is noth- 
ing better than that in "Beside the Bonnie Briar 
Bush." 

Brother Mackenzie has fed you with a shep- 
herd's hand. 

There have been references to the afflictions 
and sorrow of the past. He has ministered to you 
in them well and with comfort. But this is not 
a funeral occasion ; this is a festal day. Let every 
heart be glad and only joy expressed. All the 
past sorrow may be turned into joy here. We do 
not have to wait for the New Jerusalem for that. 

May the blessing of the Lord that enricheth and 
addeth no sorrow be upon the pastor and people 
to-day. 

" The Great Shepherd of the sheep " will take 
care of your future. He will guard and guide, until 
the sheep of every fold shall be gathered and 
" rounded " about the Throne. And, " The Lamb 
which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed them 
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters : 
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." 
87 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

Brother Mackenzie, I express to you my thanks 
for your hospitable care and fraternal kindness, and 
my high estimate of my association with you in your 
home, in your study and in your Church. The 
"seven months" will abide as a memory, germinal 
with promise of the new home, and country, for 
which we keep an expectant attitude. That memory 
will keep unbound the wings of Hope. I commend 
you to the Chief Shepherd, from whom, when He 
shall appear, you will receive a crown of glory that 
fadeth not away. 



Remarkably contrasting with the foregoing was 
the address of Rev. James G. Robertson, of Chester, 
N. H. The very contrast served to bring out the 
excellencies of both. 

In the morning the first five years' experience 
had been given first : the process was reversed in 
the afternoon ; the later period was first passed in 
review, as we have seen, showing trial and dis- 
ability patiently borne ; the younger man then re- 
called the earlier part of the pastorate. 

James is a native of our village ; the vows 
taken for him in his infancy by an Episcopal 
sponsor, he renewed, himself, when thirteen years 
old. Finding by his trembling efforts that he 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

could pray and speak in public, even at that early 
age, he went on "from strength to strength," and 
is now ministering with much acceptance to a 
Congregational church in New England : 

As the last speaker was telling us of his pref- 
erence for the word " pastor," I was reminded of 
what a colored clergyman said as to the difference 
between a minister and an evangelist. He said, 
"A minister has got to stick to his text, while an 
evangelist is supposed to branch out." To-day we 
have permission to "branch out," and say what 
we like. 

In the first place I want to testify to the 
pleasure it gives me to be here to-day, and enjoy 
with you this anniversary. I have come a long 
distance to be present, but feel well repaid for the 
effort it has cost. 

I wish to congratulate this Church for the suc- 
cess it has achieved under the leadership of the 
pastor who now completes twenty-five years of ser- 
vice among you. Doubtless you will all admit that 
this Church has been a power for good, standing 
always for an exalted type of Christian Hving ; and 
I would say to those who are accustomed to scoff 
at Christians and the Christian Church, that if the 
average of character attained by this Church and 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

Dr. Sprague's Church and the other churches of 
the community were the average of character in 
the world at large, the world would be the better 
for it ; then debts would be paid, and we should 
hear less talk about " i6 to i " as being the proper 
ratio of silver to gold in the coining of money. 

We have listened to the Historical Report of 
the Church, and have gained some idea of what 
has been accomplished during the past quarter of 
a century. There is one line of effort that has 
been pursued here of which I would make special 
mention. In studying the lesson for last Sabbath I 
came across this sentence, " The devil believes in 
special efforts for young men." Our pastor be- 
lieves in special efforts for young men, but in a 
different sense. Nearly seventeen years ago I re- 
turned home, after an absence of about three years 
at sea, with a desire to improve somewhat upon 
the education I had then received. I thought the 
way to begin would be to study Latin, and I 
went to Mr. Mackenzie to confer with him about it. 
I found him willing to help me, and for upwards 
of a year it was my custom to prepare my lesson 
during the day and recite it to him in the evening, 
and, although I was a dull scholar, I found him 
to be an excellent teacher. For this start in an 
academic course of study, and for helpful sug- 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

gestions as to the calling towards which my heart 
inclined, I have never ceased to be grateful. 

I was but ten years old when Mr. Mackenzie 
came to Salem as a candidate. I remember how 
I appreciated the first sermon he preached, and 
wished that the congregation would give him a call, 
which, as it seems, they were inclined to do. The 
revival of 1874 which marked these early years of 
his ministry lingers vividly in my memory, for it 
was then I found the Lord. I remember that first 
communion when, seated with the other boys who 
united with the Church at that time, I partook of 
the memorial feast, which was to us all so full of 
rest and spiritual refreshment. Soon after this 
revival came the organization of the "Young Men's 
Prayer Meeting," out of which grew the " Young 
People's Meeting," which has been so helpful to 
many of us who are here to-day. From this the 
" Young People's Christian Union " is a development. 

Last evening it was my privilege to walk out 
to the cemetery, one of the most beautiful spots 
on the face of the earth. Here our loved ones 
are sleeping, and as I stood by the quiet graves, 
and passed under the evergreens with their grace- 
fully drooping branches, I was reminded of the 
words I have so often heard from this pulpit, 
" The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath 
91 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

are the everlasting arms," and how this hope sus- 
tains us not only in life but in death, I was 
reminded, also, in connection with this pastorate of 
which we have been speaking to-day of what we 
read in the prophecy of Daniel, " They that be 
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, 
and they that turn many to righteousness, as the 
stars forever and ever," It is my prayer that this 
Church may be prospered as it has been in past 
years, and that God's servant may long continue 
holding forth the word of life. 

^ ^ ^ It' 

When a whole day is given up to an observance, 
it matters not how many hours are spent at it. So 
we listened, with no sense of weariness, to Rev. W. 
H, Meeker, He, too, needs no introduction. We 
Salem people have known him all our lives — all his 
long life of seventy-two years. We paid respectful 
attention while this Methodist minister thus talked 
to us : 

I am more than gratified to be with you on this 
pleasant and joyous occasion. It has been remarked 
that there are only three present who were members 
of Argyle Presbytery when our reverend brother was 
installed pastor of this Church. 

02 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

Although not in form a member of your honor- 
able body, I have frequently been in your pulpits on 
Holy Day, to worship with your people, and have 
been intimate with Rev. Dr. Mackenzie from the 
time he came to serve this congregation. Several 
speakers have suggested that their first impressions 
of this worthy brother were misleading : that they 
thought him reserved and unsocial. 

But the very trait and temperament to which 
they refer was to me one of his many charms. I will 
give you a vivid illustration to what I refer. I was 
permitted, this last summer, to enjoy a family reunion 
in a community where I taught school when a young 
man, and was invited to spend the night at the home 
of an old friend. When speaking farewell words, 
the next day, I said to my hostess and early friend 
(now a worthy grandmother) : " Margaret, do you 
know why I have always loved you ? Well, you 
remember David said, 'Thy gentleness hath made 
me great,' and your quietness, friendliness, and every- 
day sameness of manner drew me and has held my 
friendship through all these years." So this devout 
and earnest minister, by the same traits of character, 
drew me at first, and has held me until now. 

Men, like nature, have a striking dissimilarity. 
We see the rippling stream and the rolling, rushing 
river ; the smiling valleys and the towering hills. 
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ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

So I, of mercurial temperament, when I meet a man 
like our brother, full of moderation, a mind and soul 
filled with placidity, I am attracted. This is one of 
his winning traits, and embodies an unbroken sym- 
pathy and perpetual friendship. 

I have been out of the pastorate for several years, 
and during this time have been in the pulpits of 
eleven different denominations; have a broadening 
love towards all good laymen and Christ-like min- 
isters. 

Now and then I come in contact with one of both 
classes, who seems willing to let down the old stand- 
ards and lend his influence to pietize worldliness, 
rather than to earnestly endeavor to evangelize that 
town in which he lives. 

But the ministry of this pulpit, for the last twenty- 
five years, has been an out-and-out Christian ministry. 
And a minister and pulpit of that type, being the 
New Testament type, are the Drummond light of the 
world. No other place or power can compare with 
it to attract the people — to instruct and comfort and 
save the people. 

Brother Wiley has referred to the arduous and 
persistent study that must have been had during 
these wearing years. He said that he gave him 
notice, at the time of his installation, that he must 
keep the barrel full, or there would be a tendency 

94 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

to dribble. He rather gave us away, by saying we 
" could not pretend to much originality." This may 
be true, with the exception of original sin. Not long 
since I heard some ministers express a desire to 
preach like this or that great man. I tried to encour- 
age their drooping spirits by saying that, while we 
could not expect to preach like them, neither could 
one of them preach like ourselves. 

Solomon's temple was properly called " So/o- 
mon's temple," and yet his father devised the plan, 
and the materials were gathered from various quar- 
ters ; still he superintended it, and probably no 
other man could have built it : so it was rightly 
called kzs. Very much so is it with our sermons ; 
but none save the man who has ground in this 
mill can tell the study, research, prayer and care 
that every consecrated preacher has to endure if 
he would bring out things new and old, to culture 
and build up his people in godliness. Brother 
Mackenzie was taken into a niche in the temple 
of my soul when we first met, and every passing 
year has only served to cement the friendship 
commenced a quarter of a century ago. Having 
passed through the same sad experience, my heart 
went out to him in deep fellowship of suffering, 
when death came up into his parlor window and 
left him wifeless, his children motherless. I join 
95 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

my prayers with these ministers and this devoted 
people that his health may be restored, and for 
years to come he may continue to preach that 
gospel which is the power of God to draw men 
to salvation and to heaven. 

^ ^ t $' 

Has anything been omitted? Yes, one thing has 
been unsaid, and " Charlie Wilson " says it in 
his own impulsive way. Some lady remarked after- 
wards that she "had never heard Wilson do so 
well." May be he never did do better, but those 
who attend "Young People's Meeting" know that 
his remarks, whether brief or long, are always 
telling. Witness these : 

As one of the former young men of this Church, 
I wish to say, that from the time when, with an- 
other young man on a dark night about twenty- 
three years ago, I went to the study of the pastor, 
to talk with him of the things that pertain to the 
better life, to the present time, I have found him a 
wise counselor and friend. 

Perhaps my relations with him have been 
different from others of this Church, and I would 
bear testimony then, to-day, that all these relations 
have been a delight. 

Whether in field or woods, by lake or river, at 
96 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. V. 

home or abroad, he has always been a generous 
friend, a delightful companion, and profitable withal. 

As one who has been a part of the White Church, 
I wish to join with you in congratulations to-day — 
congratulations for the pastor, congratulations for the 
people. I join with you in congratulations on the 
reports of the Church, historical and financial. 

Let us not forget that while the pastor has in- 
structed and urged us to be benevolent and benefi- 
cent people, he has been our leader in all : one 
who has at all times practiced what he preached. 

In the regular collections of this Church you 
have a custom that, to my knowledge, is in use but in 
one other church, and that one has for its pastor a 
young man who has gone out from this. I refer to 
the custom of first passing the plate to the pastor. 

Since the adoption of the envelope system which 
followed the abolishing of pew rents in 1880, he 
has borne more than his proportionate share, putting 
in as one of the congregation. From his teaching 
and example we have learned systematic giving. 

He has been a gallant leader working with us, 
and at the same time guiding us "into green pas- 
tures and beside the still waters." 
^ ^ ^ ^ 

And now, that all the foregoing should not prove 
mere empty talk, Frederick Fraser rises. He speaks : 
97 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

In behalf of the congregation and in accordance 
with their request, I desire to present to our pastor 
a gift, as suggestive in some slight measure of our 
appreciation of his long and faithful service in our 
midst. 

In our presence he has borne the burden and 
the heat of the day ; borne it faithfully and well. 
His has been a whole-hearted, earnest and devoted 
service, not as a man-pleaser, but with an eye 
single to the glory of God and the eternal welfare 
of every member of his congregation. This we 
know, and we desire to accompany this token with 
the deepest feeling of gratitude and affection, and 
with the earnest wish that the spirit of our beloved 
pastor may be refreshened with the knowledge of 
the love we bear to him. 

$" t t $" 

This gift of twenty-five ten dollar gold pieces, a 
free-will offering from all the people, small sums 
or large, contributed as each purposed in his heart, 
without urging, without a "subscription paper," 
was placed in Mr. Mackenzie's hand, which 
trembled as he received it. There was a moment's 
silence. Then he said : 

My dear people, after all that has been said 



U. p. CHURCH, SALEM, N. Y. 

and done to-day, I scarcely know what to say. I 
could only wish that I were more deserving. This 
gift touches my heart. Its color indicates the 
sentiment of the givers. It is the finest, and says 
to me that I have the sincere affection and con- 
fidence of your hearts. To assure me of this the 
present gift was not needed. I knew this before. 
I have had too many indications of this in the past 
to be ignorant on such a score. I accept the gift 
thankfully, because of its intrinsic value, but most 
of all, for what is behind it. It is pure gold, and 
as such is valuable, but most of all is it valuable 
to me because of the loyal devoted hearts that beat 
in and through it. These pulsations I feel and 
they move me greatly. I can only wish that I had 
proved myself more worthy of all the kindness 
you have shown ; but this I can do, will do : pray 
that " my God will supply all your need, according 
to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus." 

^ ^ ^ ^ 

Taking into consideration the fact that it was on 
the eve of a Presidential election, when the minds 
of all were filled more or less with thoughts of the 
impending crisis, it was remarkable that there were 
only the two allusions (already cited) to the political 
situation or the money question. This was emblem- 

L.ciC. 99 



ANNIVERSARY SOUVENIR. 

atic of the course of the White Church and its leader 
through the past years. By no means unconcerned as 
to our country's welfare, rather, with truest patriotism, 
he felt that a minister should influence the tide of 
affairs, not by exciting party spirit, nor by converting 
the pulpit into a rostrum. He has striven, instead, 
to raise the moral tone of the cornmunity by teaching 
high spiritual truths. His conviction is that " right- 
eousness exalteth the nation." He has acted upon 
that conviction. The result has proved it correct. 

The closing address having come to an end, all 
joined, before the benediction was pronounced, in 
singing these cheerful strains of the " Sweet Psalmist 
of Israel :" 

" Now the King in Thy strength 
Shall be joyful, O Lord, 
And shall in Thy salvation rejoice: 
For the wish of his heart 
Thou didst freely accord 
And request of his suppliant voice. 

"Thro' salvation from Thee 

Has his fame spread abroad, 
Thou didst glory and honor impart ; 

Thou hast made him most blessM 
Forever, O God, 
And Thy presence has gladdened his heart." 



MAR 25 1902 



